Section Five Curley’s Wife

Curley’s Wife Loneliness forces her to seek out Lennie. The only person who will listen to her. Steinbeck shows a more vulnerable side to this character – ‘I get awful lonely’. Her dream was to be in the movies. Men have lied to her and used her. She really believed that she could have been in the pictures. She married Curley out of spite and to escape from her mother.

She is portrayed as a pathetic figure; a victim. She hates her husband and flirting is the only way she knows how to get attention – ‘He ain’t a nice fella.’ She uses her sexuality, but it backfires with the other men. Important that we are never told her name. She is Curley’s possession. As a woman, she is only above Crooks on the ranch’s hierarchy. She is another character who is not in control of her life (because of her gender).

Her Death There were warnings throughout the novel about what would happen at the end. Curley’s wife is finally at peace – ‘She was very pretty and simple, and her face was sweet and young.’ Her death has ended their dream – echoing back to the title The best laid schemes o’ mice and men, Gang aft agley. And Leave us nought but grief and pain For promised joy!’ (The best laid plans of Mice and Men often go wrong – Robert Burns ‘To a Mouse’.

Section Six The novel ends where it began, with the heron and the watersnake – the hunter and its prey. Lennie awaits his fate – no more able to prevent it than the little watersnake. Lennie’s guilt manifests itself as two visions of his Aunt Clara and a giant rabbit.

The killing of Lennie is a ‘mercy killing’, reminiscent of the dog’s death – except George kills Lennie himself. His decision to kill Lennie in order to protect him is based on the paradox of being cruel to be kind. Ironic that he uses Carlson’s Luger pistol to shoot Lennie. Lennie is shot as George tells him their old story. He tells Lennie ‘Ever’body gonna be nice to you. Ain’t gonna be no more trouble.’