3.1.5
Curley
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Curley's Character
Curley is an unpleasant character in Of Mice and Men. He immediately doesn't get on with Lennie.
Insecure about his size
- Curley is physically small, but is strong and has a past as a boxer: “Curley's pretty handy. He done quite a bit in the ring.” (Candy, Section 2).
- Curley is also known to take a dislike to “big guys”, and has a history of fighting with people who are bigger than him:
- “Curley's like a lot of little guys. He hates big guys. He's alla time picking scraps with big guys.” (Candy, Section 2).
Unfairly privileged
- As the Boss’s son, Curley enjoys a privileged life on the ranch compared to the other men. The boots he wears show that he wants his high status to be visible to the others: “Like the boss, he wore high-heeled boots.” (Section 2).
- Steinbeck has used Curley as an example of the injustice of society: he doesn’t work hard and isn’t particularly intelligent, but still enjoys a better life than any of the other ranch workers.
Aggressive to Lennie
- From the very first time we see him, Curley is threatening towards Lennie, who is gentle and non-confrontational. This makes the reader dislike Curley: “He glanced coldly at George and then at Lennie. His arms gradually bent at the elbows and his hands closed into fists.” (Section 2)
- Later on in the novel, Curley brutally attacks Lennie for no good reason at all: “He slashed at Lennie with his left, and then smashed down his nose with a right.” (Section 3).
Vengeful
- When Lennie kills Curley’s wife, Curley’s reaction is to immediately seek violent revenge on Lennie.
- It seems that, rather than feeling any kind of sadness that his wife has been killed, Curley feels like Lennie has personally insulted him: “I'm gonna shoot the guts outta that big bastard myself, even if I only got one hand.” (Curley, Section 3).
A bad husband
- Curley displays lots of unpleasant behaviour. For example, he is known to make crude and sexual comments about her: “Curley says he’s keeping that hand soft for his wife.” (Candy, Section 2).
- Curley’s wife herself eventually confides in Lennie, revealing that she thinks Curley is an unkind person and a bad husband: “I don’t like Curley. He ain’t a nice fella.” (Curley’s wife, Section 5).
1Context & Overview
1.1Context & Overview
2Plot
2.1Section 1 - Analysis
2.2Section 2 - Analysis
2.3Section 3 - Analysis
2.4Section 4 - Analysis
2.5Section 5 - Analysis
2.6Section 6 - Analysis
3Key Characters
3.1Main Characters
3.2Minor Characters
4Themes
5Authorial Method
6Recap: Main Quotes
6.1Quotes per Section
6.2Text Structure - Quotes
Jump to other topics
1Context & Overview
1.1Context & Overview
2Plot
2.1Section 1 - Analysis
2.2Section 2 - Analysis
2.3Section 3 - Analysis
2.4Section 4 - Analysis
2.5Section 5 - Analysis
2.6Section 6 - Analysis
3Key Characters
3.1Main Characters
3.2Minor Characters
4Themes
5Authorial Method
6Recap: Main Quotes
6.1Quotes per Section
6.2Text Structure - Quotes
Practice questions on Curley
Can you answer these? Test yourself with free interactive practice on Seneca — used by over 10 million students.
- 1What was Curley in the past?Multiple choice
- 2What is Curley's relationship to the Boss?Multiple choice
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