Curley's Wife Floozy Analysis

At the beginning of the novel, Curley’s wife is often seen as a floozy rather than a nice girl. However, as the story develops Steinbeck changes your perception of her to teach the reader a lesson on what it means to be human. He does this through presenting a microcosm of society on the ranch, allowing you to draw your own conclusions of the characters. He does this with the intentions of exposing the social intolerance many had and possibly still have today.

Firstly, Curley’s wife is presented as a floozy and threat to anyone on the ranch. This is shown when Candy describes her to George and Lennie as “a bitch” who “got the eye.” This is interesting because George and Lennie haven’t even met her yet but instantly draw conclusions on how

This is shown when “she closed in on him” to tell him “I could get you strung up on a tree so easy it ain’t even funny.” Curley’s wife sees her power as a white woman and exerts this over the only person she can. Like a predator catching its prey she goes in for the kill by making Crooks “reduce himself to nothing.” This reinforces the idea of her being dangerous and vindictive as she abuses the little power she has. Readers immediately dislike her more because they can see her discriminatory ways towards black people. To critical readers this is interesting because the narrator can see the social prejudices of race, but fails to see the social prejudices of gender. “Ain’t even funny” creates irony as her morbid undertone allows the reader to see her dangerous capabilities, creating tension as she jokes about a serious matter. This presents Curley’s wife as cruel, however, we can also sympathise with her. This is because we can see her loneliness and isolations highlighted in the fact this is the only human interaction she receives. Curley’s wife’s mentally fragile as she is consistently dehumanised by the idea no one wants her opinions or thoughts on anything because she is viewed as a possession rather than a person, like many in the