Character analysis of Curleys wife and Slim. :: English Literature

Character analysis of Curley's wife and Slim. Steinbeck managers to deliver Curley's wife and Slim's description of their characters so clearly because we get told what people think of them but then we get given their clear precise description of them so we can make our judgement of their personality. We first hear about Curley's wife by Candy when he tells George and Lennie. This is a bit of gossip that Candy tells George about Curley's wife and it is also the opinion of most of the ranch workers. Now Candy is a gossip and he wants to tell George and he does it very effectively. Candy makes sure that George is on his side and you can tell that he feels a bit safer when George agrees with him. We are told that Curley's wife is very beautiful and a bit of a flirt when Candy says, 'I seen her give Slim the eye.' 'An' I seen her give Carlson the eye.' Candy's opinion of Curley's wife is emphasized when he says to George, 'Know what I think?' 'Well, I think Curley's married à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ a tart' Steinbeck has given us a general Idea about her character but then he builds upon that by introducing her to George and Lennie. As soon as she walks in to the bunkhouse signs start to emerge. Her figure cuts off the sunlight from outside, 'the rectangle of sunshine in the doorway was cut off.' This makes the bunkhouse dark and dark is a sign for trouble and evil. Her description is very vivid and mentions the colour red, which is a very symbolised colour. 'She had full, rouged lips' 'Her fingernails were red.' 'She wore a cotton house dress and red mules, on the instep of which were little bouquets of red ostrich feathers.' Red is a symbol of danger but it can also mean love and passion. Red is also the colour that enrages a bull and since Lennie has been described and related to different animals I think Lennie could be a bull as well. Another detail that is made about Curley's wife is that 'Her voice had a nasal, brittle quality.' This is different to all of her other details because it suggests that she is also very fragile. A clue again relating to her being fragile is when she asks Slim if he has seen Curley. When Slim says that Curley is looking for her she reacts in a way that I think she is scared of Curley, 'She was suddenly apprehensive.' Another aspect that Steinbeck managers to deliver is that she is called Curley's wife