Curley's wife

Question 1

name the quotes for Curley’s wife’s

Answer 1

• ‘She had full rouged lips . . . her finger-nails were red, . . . her voice had a brittle quality … and leaned against the door frame so that her body was thrown forward’.
• “don’t you ever take a look at that b*tch. . . I seen ’em poison before, but I never seen no piece of jail bait worse than her”
• ‘Tart’
• “Coulda’ been in the movies. . . an’ had pitchers took of me.”
• ‘You know what I can do to you if you open your trap?’

Question 2

analyse the quote: ‘She had full rouged lips . . . her finger-nails were red, . . . her voice had a brittle quality … and leaned against the door frame so that her body was thrown forward’.

Answer 2

• the colour red symbolises danger and sexuality
• Very flirtatious, provocative and demanding
• ‘brittle’ foreshadows the events of her death where Lennie breaks her neck

context
treatment of women in the 1930’s American society

Question 3

analyse the quotes: “don’t you ever take a look at that b*tch. . . I seen ’em poison before, but I never seen no piece of jail bait worse than her”
candy - ‘a tart’

Answer 3

• ‘Jail bait’ – metaphor to warn Lennie that she isn’t to be spoken to
• Dangerous
• Use of derogatory language towards Curley’s wife amplifies the opinions men had towards women
• candy calling her a ‘tart’ further symbolises mens opinions of women and how they were objectified

context
treatment of women - misogyny, objectified, dehumanized
dust bowl - she exposes how itinerant workers were unable to establish connections to others

Question 4

Analyse: “Coulda’ been in the movies. . . an’ had pitchers took of me.”

Answer 4

• A coping mechanism for her
• perceives the movies as an escape from the life she is currently in
• “pitchers took of me” desires the attention to be on her
• After her failure to achieve a life on stage she marries Curley to escape the hardship and lack of opportunity as she believes he will give her the life she desires – but she is just lonely and oppressed. – Portraying the American dream as a myth / abstract point of view.

Context
- Golden age of Hollywood - many women at the time desired to be in the movies
- patriarchal society - many woman couldn’t achieve their own dreams of being in the movies as they had to work on ranches for their husbands to succeed.
- American dream

Question 5

Analyse: ‘You know what I can do to you if you open your trap?’

Answer 5

• Curley’s wife Makes herself feel good as she is socially superior in this situation as women were usually seen as sexual commodities, marginalised by male dominated race for survival.
• Takes advantage of the power she has over the others
• Reader loses sympathy for Curley’s wife as she mistreats Crooks because of his Race
• Ironic as she isolates others after she has experienced the feeling herself.
• Shows how even the oppressed can oppress others when given the chance.

Context
treatment of people of colour (Jim crow laws) - an example of how people of colour were often victims of discrimination during the 1930’s
- KKK - how people of colour were treated

Question 6

Name all the contexts in ‘Of Mice and Men’

Answer 6

• Steinbeck worked on a ranch himself
• treatment of women
• treatment of people with disabilities
• treatment of people of colour
• Robert burns poem to a mouse
• great depression
• wall street crash
• itinerant workers / oakies
• dust bowl
• the american dream
• golden age of hollywood
• Patriachal Society