In today’s lesson we looked at the character of Curley’s wife, specifically in Chapter 5 and how Steinbeck develops the theme of loneliness further. I challenged you to try to consider alternative interpretations of Curley’s wife rather than the obvious ‘tart’ interpretation. Is Curley’s wife portrayed as a pathetic figure, who we should sympathise with?
In Chapter 5 Curley’s wife seems to have planned her encounter with Lennie as she twice mentions that the other men are playing the horseshoe game. Why? Because she is lonely. She is the only woman on the ranch, the men don’t talk to her and Curley doesn’t spend any time with her. She is discriminated against because she is a woman and is criticised before we even meet her.
Curley’s wife’s name is crucial. She is nameless and shown to be a possession of Curley’s due to the use of the possessive apostrophe. We discussed her lacking an identity and essentially being anonymous. How could Curley’s wife be linked to Candy’s dog? Remember the significance of animals in the novel. How can animals be compared to the characters? What could Steinbeck be suggesting?
In Chapter 5 for large parts of the conversation, Lennie and Curley’s wife are talking past each other. Their failure to listen to each other shows that most of the characters don’t care about each other’s dreams – this further develops the theme of loneliness. Looking for companionship to escape loneliness can also be dangerous -when anyone tries it ends in disaster.
We discussed the fact that Curley and his wife don’t appear together until her death. Steinbeck presents the characters are constantly searching for each other – remember they have only been married for a short period. What could this suggest about their relationship? Although they do not appear together until Chapter 5 they are ironically described in a similar way. Curley is described as ‘flopping like a fish on a line’ in Chapter 3 when Lennie crushes his hand. Curley’s wife ‘flopped like a fish’ also due to Lennie’s violence. The common denominator here is Lennie!
Steinbeck uses similar language to describe Curley’s wife both before and after her death. Her curls are like ‘sausages’, her face ‘rouged’ and her lips ‘parted’. But after she’s died, she is also ‘pretty and simple’ and ‘sweet and young’. Steinbeck shows that her loneliness made her focus on her appearance, using her body as a weapon. Whereas in death she is innocent again – free from the discrimination and loneliness.
In tomorrow and Friday’s lessons, you will attempt to organise your ideas in to a paragraph focusing on loneliness in Chapter 5.
Miss O
miss, the dog ate my homework 