Of Mice and Men Blog

         In the book, Of Mice and Men by John Steinback the atmosphere of the bunkhouse and ranch is that everyone knows everyone else's business. The personal information is known by most of the people who occupy it. For example most people know why Curley keeps a glove on his hand. This is said when Candy is gossiping to George, "The swamper warmed to his gossip. 'You see that glove on his left hand?' 'Yeah. I seen it.' 'Well, that glove's fulla Vaseline." By having Candy openly tell George about Curley's personal life it shows that people know what is happening in the ranch. This quote also shows that Candy is a big gossip. He will tell a stranger things that aren't openly told to everyone. Another example of this is when Candy says, "Curley's like a lot of little guys. He hates big guys...he's mad at 'em because he ain't a big guy." This quote is showing that Candy knows why Curley does some of the things that he does. He could know this maybe because he could have been listening to different conversations, or he could have saw how Curley acts between small and big guys. Candy knows a lot about Curley from what I can tell. That quote also shows that Curley is jealous of bigger men and is mad at them for being bigger then him.

         I think that Curley's wife doesn't have a name because she is being treated as Curley's property. She isn't her own person, just something that belongs to Curley. Curley might want to see her as an object because she is so flirtatious. In the book it says, "'Well-she got the eye.' Yeah? Married two weeks and got the eye? Maybe that's why Curley's pant are full of ants.'" This shows that Curley's wife is very flirtatious and that could be one of the reasons why Curley is so tense. If she doesn't have a name then she is basically owned by Curley and she can't go flirting with other guys. The no name thing is sort of like a leash that Curley has on his wife.

        The message that John Steinback is sending by not giving her a first name is that she does not have peoples respect. Her name is "Curley's Wife" because the respect that she does have comes from the fact that she is the boss's son's wife. It shows this when Candy tells George, "'Well, I think Curley's married...a tart.'" This is saying that people see her as a tart and don't respect her. By Steinback not giving her a first name he is contributing to the evidence that the only reason why people have the small amount of dignity towards her is because she is married to Curley.