Of Mice and Men

in the conversation between lennie and the curleys wife how does an innocent longing for human contact contact ultimately lead to tragedy?

in the conversation between lennie and the curleys wife how does an innocent longing for human contact contact ultimately lead to tragedy?

Asked by
Last updated by Aslan
Answers 1
Add Yours

Curley's wife is partially responsible for her own demise but in the lonely world that Steinbeck creates on the ranch, one can hardly blame her. Curley's wife is so lonely and pathetic that Steinbeck doesn't even give her a name: she simply goes by Curley's property. She sees herself disappearing on this ranch of ambivalent men. She seeks and creates attention wherever she can find it. For that she is labeled a "tart" and a "hussy". Unfortunately her desperation for company puts her in compromising situations like her encounter with Lennie. Unfortunately Lennie lacks the faculties to understand any subtext of motivation.