Curley's Personality
Curley is an interesting character in Part 2. He purposely tries to pick a fight with Lennie to prove how tough he is. Today, I will be analyzing why I think Curley acts this way. The swamper told us that Curley is the boss’s son. I believe that this puts a lot of pressure on Curley’s shoulders to do great things. Curley seems to be arrogant and cocky by nature, but I also think that’s because he’s use to people treating him like that. The swamper informs George that, “S’pose Curley jumps a big guy an’ licks him. Ever’body says what a game guy Curley is. And s’pose he does the same things and gets licked. Then ever’body says the big oughtta pick on somebody his own size, and maybe they gang up on the big guy.” (26) Since Curley is somewhat short, if he fights a bigger guy and wins, he looks really tough. However, if he loses, he can blame the big guy because it was an “unfair fight.” Finally, Curley is the only worker with a wife. Unfortunately, she isn’t the most loyal wife. She often flirts with other men, and I think Curley is worried that someone might try to take her away. If he proves that he is tough and not to be messed with, nobody will try to steal his wife. This is my theory, but if anyone else has any other ideas I would love to hear them!
Hi Alison. I really enjoyed your post. It made me see Curley in a different light. I guess if you grew up in a place with you father being the one at the very top of the power ladder, people would probably expect a lot from you. I could see that after Curley realized he could get anyone in trouble if he just told his father, Curley would become rather arrogant and start lording his power over everyone else. The combination of pressure to do well and a sense of power probably had a lot to do with Culrey's adult personality.
ReplyDelete