Curley's Wife Analysis Essay

As we all know, there are different opinions on the character Curley’s wife from different perspective. Some people might say that Curley’s wife is nothing but a possession of Curley, following the fact that we know her as Curley’s wife instead of her real name. Other people might say that Curley’s wife is the main voice from Steinbeck, which expresses the concern of both racism and classism But the truth is women at this period of time in the society, in this case, Curley’s wife, have a dominant role of a housewife and don’t have any freedom when decision is made.

She first appeared in the doorway of the bunkhouse, asking the location of her husband, which is later revealed that it is just an excuse to be able to interact with the ranchers. She was wearing a “red cotton house dress” and a pair of mules decorated with “bouquets of red ostrich feathers” emphasizing her sexual appeal. Her clothes have the color ‘red’ which signifies danger and foreshadows that she will bring trouble for George and Lennie in the future. She wore this because of her desperate need for attention since she is so lonely although she has a husband. This could be understood because throughout the novel, Curley didn’t give any attention to his wife whatsoever. Instead, he just took advantage of the wealth and

She chose to against Crooks and this clearly highlight racism, which existed in the American society. ‘Well you keep your trap shut then, Nigger. I could get you strung up on a tree so easy it ain’t even funny.’ This indicates Curley’s wife try to threaten Crooks. Also, this shows that racism was a really big issue in the 1930s and the reason why Curley’s wife chooses him because he is the weakest and least able to defend himself. She will have status and power even though she is the only woman in the ranch and her husband makes her rejected by all the ranch men. Nobody want to have conversation with her because they all afraid of her husband and they tried to avoid her every