Along with the importance of friendship and the American dream, the pain of loneliness is a major theme in John Steinbeck's novella Of Mice and Men. While most of the characters deal with some level of loneliness, Curley's wife is particularly characterized as being lonely.
Because she is the only girl on a ranch full of men, she is isolated. Most of the men are basically afraid of her, partly because she is young...
Along with the importance of friendship and the American dream, the pain of loneliness is a major theme in John Steinbeck's novella Of Mice and Men. While most of the characters deal with some level of loneliness, Curley's wife is particularly characterized as being lonely.
Because she is the only girl on a ranch full of men, she is isolated. Most of the men are basically afraid of her, partly because she is young and pretty, but also because of the belligerent nature of her husband. When she tries to talk to them they are aloof and refer to her with derision labeling her with names such as tart, tramp, floozy and jailbait. She is neglected by Curley who is always supposedly looking for her which seems to be just an excuse to terrorize the men who work for his father. He probably mistreats her and even cheats on her as evidenced by the fact she is alone on Saturday night while Curley has gone into town, presumably to a whore house. Because of this she seeks attention from the other men on the ranch.
It is in chapter four that she reveals her discontent with Curley and her overt loneliness. She goes into the barn where Crooks, Lennie and Candy have gathered in the black man's room. She is, of course, looking for Curley, but also admits her displeasure with him:
“Sure I gotta husban’. You all seen him. Swell guy, ain’t he? Spends all his time sayin’ what he’s gonna do to guy she don’t like, and he don’t like nobody. Think I’m gonna stay in that two-by-four house and listen how Curley’s gonna lead with his left twicet, and then bring in the ol’ right cross? ‘One-two,’ he says. ‘Jus’ the ol’ one-two an’ he’ll go down.’”
In chapter five she continues to declare her loneliness when she is alone in the barn with Lennie. She is drawn to Lennie because she senses he won't dismiss her immediately. Though George has warned Lennie about the girl, he cannot help but be drawn in. She admits her loneliness in trying to interact with Lennie:
"Why can’t I talk to you? I never get to talk to nobody. I get awful lonely.”
She tells Lennie she could have made something of herself and been in the movies. She implicitly blames her mother for the fact she married Curley and finally admits contempt for her husband:
“Well, I ain’t told this to nobody before. Maybe I oughten to. I don’ like Curley. He ain’t a nice fella.”
As Crooks indicates in chapter four, Lennie is easy to talk to. He rarely remembers anything except what George tells him, but he eases Curley's wife's loneliness for a short time. She likes Lennie and tries to console him about the death of his puppy. She can relate to his obsession about petting soft things and says,
“But you’re a kinda nice fella. Jus’ like a big baby. But a person can see kinda what you mean. When I’m doin’ my hair sometimes I jus’ set an’ stroke it ‘cause it’s so soft.”
The choice to pour out her heart to Lennie and allow him to touch her hair proves to be a bad idea. Her "ache" for attention is ultimately fatal as Lennie, who doesn't know his own strength, accidentally breaks her neck.
Like Candy (old and crippled) and Crooks (black and crippled), Curley's wife's difference is responsible for her sense of isolation and loneliness. She is out of place on the ranch and never truly understood by the men. She exacerbates the problem by trying to play the seductress and being flirtatious in a dangerous environment.
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