Wednesday, August 15, 2018

When in the book Of Mice and Men does Curley's wife say she is lonely?

In Chapter Five, Curley's wife enters the barn and has a conversation with Lennie, who initially refuses to speak to her because George prohibits him. When Lennie tells Curley's wife that he is not allowed to speak to her, she laments about her lonely situation by saying, "Why can’t I talk to you? I never get to talk to nobody. I get awful lonely" (Steinbeck, 43). Curley's wife goes on to say,

"I get lonely...You can talk to people, but I can’t talk to nobody but Curley. Else he gets mad. How’d you like not to talk to anybody?" (Steinbeck, 43).

Curley's wife is married to an extremely domineering, possessive man, who refuses to allow her to mingle with the other men out of fear that she will cheat on him with one of the laborers. As a result of Curley's aggressive, vindictive personality, the workers on the ranch refuse to speak to Curley's wife out of fear that they will lose their jobs. Curley's wife is also the only female on the ranch, which makes her situation even more difficult and lonely. After lamenting about her lonely situation, Curley's wife continues to complain about her unhealthy marriage before she tells Lennie that she could have been in the movies. Overall, Curley's wife is one of the loneliest people on the farm and expresses her feelings of despair to Lennie in chapter five.


Curley's wife says she is lonely when she comes across Lennie all by himself in the barn. The other ranch hands are outside playing horseshoes. Lennie has just accidentally killed his puppy because he does not know his own strength.
When Curley's wife comes up to him wanting to engage in conversation, Lennie says he can't talk to her. She asks why and says

I never get to talk to nobody. I get awful lonely.

Lennie says he has been told not to talk to her. She complains that the other men are all busy and repeats that she is lonely. She says that Curley gets jealous if she talks to any of the ranch hands. We might feel a little sorry for her because of her isolation as the only woman on the ranch.
Curley's wife appears to think Lennie is safe to talk to, although that is a false assumption.

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