Of Mice And Men Relationship Between George And Curley's Wife

The characters in Of Mice and Men are as interesting as the story they tell. Their personalities and characteristics are quite different from one another, so encounters between them are always entertaining. Two of the most important characters are George and Lennie, migrant workers travelling and living together, unlike most others of their kind, who spend their lives alone. George does the thinking for the pair, while Lennie supplies the brawn. Candy, another major character, is an old worker who is missing one hand, and lives on the ranch where George and Lennie have come to work. He is faced with the possibility of being kicked off of the ranch because he can no longer do much work. Finally, Curley’s wife is an unnamed character, and also …show more content…
Tha’s three hundred an’ fifty bucks I’d put in”” (Steinbeck 59). He is very excited when he hears them talking about their plan to buy a farm, because he needs a place to go after he is no longer wanted on the ranch. He has $350 dollars, and offers to use it to help buy the farm, if he can live with them. This is significant since it is the first time that George and Lennie’s dream seems like more than just a dream, because of Candy’s generous offer. Candy also attempts to save their dream by keeping his discovery of Curley’s wife’s death quiet, which gives George time to sort things out (Steffens 59). He does this because he is friends with George and Lennie, and also because he still hopes to get the farm with them. Candy’s actions give Lennie time to get away, and George time to get Carlson’s gun, so that George is able to be the one to kill Lennie, a much better end for him than if Curley did. A last example of how much Candy hopes to be a part of George and Lennie’s dream is when he says to George ““You an’ me can get that little place, can’t we, George? You an’ me can go there an’ live nice, can’t we George? Can’t we”” (Steinbeck 94)? This shows how afraid Candy is that the dream farm will not become a reality now that Lennie has killed Curley’s wife, and he will have no place to go after he is kicked off the ranch. It is clear that when …show more content…
As Steffens writes, “Because she is young, attractive, and flirtatious, she awakens the desires of many of the men, causing them to react strongly to her presence” (57). Curley’s wife can be a problem for herself and others on the ranch as she is often seeking attention from the men. Most of them, in fear of upsetting Curley and therefore the ranch owner, try to keep their distance from her, since she is the wife of their boss’s son. This makes Curley’s wife feel unwanted, so when she finds that Lennie will talk to her, she is excited, and does not realize that he could be a potential danger when she offers to let him feel her hair. Curley’s wife demonstrates her want of attention in this short conversation between her and Slim, ““I’m tryin’ to find Curley, Slim.” “Well, you ain’t tryin’ very hard. I seen him goin’ in your house”” (Steinbeck 31-32). Curley’s wife does not like her husband, so she flirts with the other men, and tries to stay away from Curley. She often uses the excuse that she cannot find Curley as the reason she is with the other workers. Eventually, her loneliness causes the deaths of herself and Lennie, showing that her isolation from the other characters is important to the story. A final example of how alone Curley’s wife feels is when she says to Lennie ““Why can’t I talk to you? I never get to talk to nobody. I get awful lonely””