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“Wha’s the matter with me?” she cried. “Ain’t I got a right to talk to nobody? Whatta they think I am, anyways? You’re a nice guy. I don’t know why I can’t talk to you. I ain’t doin’ no harm to you.”
Curley’s wife lives an isolated life on the ranch, and she attempts to find attention and company through flirting and conversing with the ranch hands. However, the ranch men are suspicious of forming any real friendship with her, since Curley is violently possessive over her, and paranoid that she’ll become involved with Slim or another man. While the ranch men’s hesitation to involve themselves with Curley’s wife is understandable from their perspective, for her, their rejection of her company only worsens her unbearable loneliness.
I could get you strung up on a tree so easy it ain’t even funny.
When Crooks threatens to isolate Curley’s wife further by telling the boss about her secret trips to the barn, Curley’s wife lashes out with racist intimidation. Although Curley’s wife is certainly controlled by a violent husband and socially ostracized by the ranch workers, she does hold power over Crooks due to her race. Any accusation against Crooks on her part would immediately be used by the aggressive men of the ranch as a justification to lynch Crooks. During the barn scene between Crooks, Lennie, Candy, and Curley’s wife, it becomes clear that each of these characters yearns for connection and company. Sadly, Curley’s violent nature and the harsh life on the ranch have made them all fearful, and instead of finding connection, they cruelly turn on each other in an attempt to gain the upper hand.
Well, I ain’t told this to nobody before. Maybe I oughten to. I don’ like Curley. He ain’t a nice fella.
Just as every other man on the ranch despises Curley and must stay vigilant in case he becomes violent, Curley’s wife is also afraid of and disturbed by her husband. The relationship between Curley and his wife is one of dominance and control. Whenever Curley speaks of his wife, it is either as a possession or sexual object – he forbids her from leaving their house and wears a glove of vaseline to keep one hand soft for her. There is no sign of any love, shared values, or common interests between Curley and his wife, and she admits she married him as a last resort after her Hollywood dreams were destroyed. Indeed, when Curley’s wife is killed, Curley exhibits no signs of grief at the loss of his wife. Rather, Curley sees her death through the lens of his ongoing battle for authority over Lennie – he views his wife’s death at Lennie’s hands as a blow to his own status and power.
