·
Size – hates being small
o
“Curley is like a lot of small guys: he hates big guys,”
o
Immediately angry to bigger men
o
Obsessed with proving he is still powerful
·
Father will always have more authority
o
He’s the “boss’ son”
·
Insecure – ends up in a fight that wasn’t
necessary
o
“No big son-of-a-bitch is gonna laugh at me”
o
Causes his drastic mood swings and volatility
·
Unsuccessful marriage
·
Not respected
o
No one would stand up for him
o
Wife thinks he deserves to have his hand hurt
o
All farmers willing to join in telling Curley
they don’t like him when Curley is wrong about Slim and his wife – ‘“This punk sure had it comin’
to him,”’
Dreams
·
Dreamt of being a boxer
o
Failed – shattered dreams
·
Still trying to prove he’s great
o
Continually fighting – “Curley’s shoulders dropped and squared”
o
Everyone knows he was a boxer – Candy describes
him as “handy”
Strengths
·
Has a lot of power over each farmer – the boss’
son
o
And uses it to his advantage
o
Able to get into fights without getting into
trouble – “Curley stepped over to Lennie like a terrier,” (Terrie being a hunting dog)
o
Can boss people around, they have to do what he
says
·
Physically quite strong, handy and experienced
o
“slashed,” “smashed,” “slugging,”
o
“balanced and poised,”
·
Quick-witted and observant
o
Helpful in fights – ‘Lennie took his hands away
from his face … Curley slashed at his eyes,”
Culpable for his wife’s death
·
He is the one who left his wife lonely, causing
her to seek comfort
·
Responsible indirectly
·
In the chain of events, he’s the ‘trigger cause’
·
Although, he wasn’t even in the barn when she
died, and tried to keep her in the house
Summary
·
‘Curley’s face reddened. “I’m goin’,” he said. “I’m gonna shoot the guts outta that
big bastard myself,
even if I only got one hand.”’ (P.135)
o
Repetition of the pronoun ‘I’ reminds us that
Curley is on his own throughout the entire novella. He’s only going to kill
Lennie for himself, not for his wife. No one else is mentioned in coming, for
example a friend, to help him.
o
Use of the adjective “big” highlighting his
insecurities, that he hates being small.
o
“only got one hand” tells us again that he isn’t
going to shoot Lennie for killing his wife, he clearly doesn’t really care
about her, but that this fight is personal – he’s getting revenge on Lennie for
making him appear weak and helpless in front of the other farmers.
o
“shoot the guts” reinforces the idea that Curley
is a violent man, always looking for a fight, looking for a way to look the
strongest, wanting to be the toughest.
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