Curley's Wife Complex Character

All stories have major and minor characters as well as simple and complex characters. Often, the major characters are the complex ones who impact the conflict and plot of the story, while minor characters are the simple ones who impact minimally. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck accounts Lennie and George’s journey towards their American dream. When the duo first arrives at the Ranch, George and Lennie meet Curley’s wife, a simple minor character at first glance. However, throughout the course of the novel, not only does evidence of Curley’s wife’s complexity shows up, but so does evidence of her major impact on the conclusion and plot of the novel. Curley’s wife, a minor character, play a major role in the novel by not only representing …show more content…
In Of Mice and Men, the norm for women is to not get anywhere in life, not dream of a life they could have and to stay away from the men. Curley’s wife first contradicts this norm when she tells Lennie about her American Dream; she “coulda been in the movies, an’ had nice clothes—all them nice clothes... an’ coulda sat in them big hotels, an’ had pitchers took of me” (84). Curley’s wife contradicts this norm again when she finds Lennie in the barn upset because he killed a puppy; “she [consoles] him. ‘Don’t you worry none. He was jus’ a mutt. You can get another one easy’” (83). This act of consolation then causes “[her to move] closer to him and she [speak] soothingly” (83) which ultimately causes Curley’s wife to “[take] Lennie’s hand and put it on her head” (86). Once Lennie grabs ahold of her hair, he won’t let go because he likes the hair, which results in Lennie accidentally killing Curley 's wife. Lying dead in the hay, “the meanness and the plannings and the discontent and the ache for attention were all gone from her face. [Curley’s wife] was very pretty and simple, and her face was sweet and young” (88). This demonstrates how even though Curley 's wife is pretty, simple, sweet and young, she is still subject to the same fate as all the other women; she has to cause a setback for Lennie and …show more content…
There are two sides to every simple one-sided character. Curley’s wife can be characterized to have a meanness, discontentment and an ache for attention in her, but she is also pretty, young and sweet. Though not a main character in the novel, she still plays an essential role in all the events that occur. She causes the setbacks that Lennie and George face, kills their American dream, challenges societal norms, but eventually falls back to her fated role of being a setback. These are just examples of the contradictory aspects of Curley’s wife, the complexly simple, majorly minor character that impacts central aspects of the