Curly's Wife

 Of Mice and Men:Curly's wife

Curly's wife is seen as a woman stuck in her marriage and trying to get out of it. She is always running around the farm and messing with every guy she can find. She is smart and catches on to things. There is no fooling her. Throughout the story the reader's view of Curly's wife really changes. She is first seen as a flirty attention seeking woman to a lonely, insecure, stuck in her marriage type of woman. She is flirty, insecure and lonely, and she wants to be a star.

Curly's wife is seen as flirty numerous times. The first time it is seen in this story is when she walks into the bunkhouse and asks George if he has seen Curly. She then states, “I was just looking around”, referring to how Lennie couldn’t help from looking at her moving her legs around. Even though she went into the bunkhouse to look for Curly, she was just making an excuse to go flirt with the new guys. From specific quotes she doesn't seem as flirty as the tone you get by reading how she does thing. The way she does things and her attitude are really what makes it stand out. Also in the story she states, “It's awfully hot out here, I bet it's cooler in the barn.” Once again she beats around the bush to get someone to come to the barn with her instead of openly asking. By asking this way it makes her seem more flirtatious.

Curly's wife just does not get the attention she wants. Throughout this whole story all she really wants is to have some friends and a social life, which she can't have living at the ranch. She states, “Aint I got the right to talk to no one?” to Lennie really sharing how lonely she is. She tells Lennie many things knowing that he doesn't understand. She also tells Lennie, “He aint a nice fella.” referring to her husband Curly. Her insecurity really falls into the same category as the loneliness she expresses and the reader can see it by how she presents herself, speaks, and her actions. Besides her attitude, she also dresses glamorous to draw attention to herself. Even living on a farm she would wear a glamorous, flowery dress. Being the only woman on the farm, she wasn't trying to out dress anyone, but just trying to bring attention to herself.

“Coulda been in the movies, an' had nice clothes-all them nice clothes like they wear. An' I coulda sat in the big hotels, an' had pitchers took of me. When they had them previews I could went to them, an' spoke in the radio, an' it wouldn'ta cost me a cent because I was in the pitcher. An' all them nice clothes like they wear. Because this guy says I was a natural.”, stated Curly's wife talking about what the actor she met told her. She goes on telling Lennie about her encounter and how she couldve made something of herself. The way she talks of how she could have been something but ended up at that ranch shows how close she was and how far away she is now. Living at the ranch really leaves her with the exact opposite of what she'd always wanted.

In conclusion, throughout the story the readers view of Curly's wife did change. She started out as a halfway annoying flirty woman to a lonely sad person. If she would not have gotten killed by Lennie, would she have persued her dream of becoming a star?