Assessment 4 Curley Quotes Flashcards
Curley lashed his body around
Curley moves in an aggressive and fast manner depicting his immediate switch to violence at a moments notice
She was suddenly apprehensive
Curley’s wife is immediately afraid at the notion Curley could be aware of her being around other men which is a strong contrast to her usual flirtatious carefree persona. She is willing to drop everything for the chance she can get back and convince Curley she wasn’t doing anything behind his back which greatly implies he may be abusive towards her. This is in character for Curley as he is short tempered and quickly escalates into physical confrontation
“You seen a girl around here?” He demanded angrily
Curley refers to his own wife as ‘girl’ which is either implying she is very young or more likely is Curley referring to her as her gender as if she has no individuality outside of it which further exacerbates how Curley sees his wife as an object he owns. The use of the words ‘demands angrily’ shows how he is in a bad mood and implies he sees himself as entitled to the information of his wife’s whereabouts as well as implying he’s somewhat aware of her interactions with the other workers and likely directs his rage towards her, further hinting towards the abusive side of their marriage
Curley looked threateningly about the room
This shows how Curley attempts to intimidate everyone around him and does so in a manner of eye contact as in an earlier scene he is described as ‘staring coldly’. This displays Curley’s mood and compulsion to make others fear him so he can exert more power and authority over him likely to compensate for the lack of respect he gets from them or out of jealousy for the respect Slim receives from them
Curley jumped out the door and banged it after him
‘Jumped’ displays Curley’s high energy movements as he moved at an unnecessary speed and also hints towards his shorter temper. ‘Banged it after him’ conveys his lack of manners towards the other workers as he likely sees them as beneath him or out of spite for the disrespect he gets from them
“You keep outta thus les’ you wanta step outside”
This shows how quickly Curley is willing to escalate verbal conflicts into physical ones and is willing to threaten others with this. He doesn’t hesitate with this implying he has done it before or that he’s very confident in his ability that he doesn’t see Carlson as a threat, interestingly he lacks the same quick aggression towards Slim suggesting he is intimidated by Slim or that he possibly attempted to fight Slim and was beaten
Curley stepped over to Lennie like a terrier
Curley moving like a terrier depicts his personality as a small but extremely aggressive character who targets those many times his size just like a real terrier. ‘Stepped over’ communicates Curley is not afraid of Lennie and likely moves closer to him with the intent of initiating a physical confrontation
Then Curley’s rage exploded
This is phrased to imply Curley has never reached his full breaking point until this moment and is comparable to a short fuse of a bomb exploding. ‘Exploded’ shows how violent and aggressive Curley becomes
Curley was white and shrunken by now, and his struggling had become weak. He stood crying, his fist lost in Lennie’s paw
This shows Curley’s terrified and fearful state beneath his aggressive and intimidating facade of confidence. This veneer of pride and power crumbles once Lennie breaks his hand and beats him leaving him crying and cowering in pain and humiliation. Curley centers most of his behavior around his skill in fighting and has made a reputation from it, Lennie beating him in a fight with a single move breaks Curley’s hand and shatters his reputation, exposing him as the scared and powerless coward he always was. This is confirmed by Slim using his loss to blackmail him into letting Lennie off free indicating he cares more about his reputation than he does for revenge or his anger to Lennie
The old man looked cautiously at the door to make sure no one was listening
This conveys how Candy is afraid of Curley as he is careful to make sure Curley doesn’t hear him. Candy is clearly intimated by Curley, especially since Candy is much more expendable on the ranch and is less able to defend himself given his old age and missing hand. Curley has the ability to get Candy sacked very easily which Curley is most certainly aware of as well as Curley’s impulsive behavior and short temper. Curley presumably has the power to get others sacked, not just Candy, as the only person to verbally retaliate against him was Slim who is a very respected worker on the ranch and likely has a close relationship with the boss
“Won’t ever get canned ‘cause his old man’s the boss”
This line displays the power Curley truly has because while the others can be fired, Curley is the only truly permanent worker on the farm aside from his father. This also enforces Curley’s ability to convince his father to sack anyone he chooses making him more dangerous, this presents Curley as an unmovable obstacle on George and Lennie’s path to their dream further solidifying his role as an antagonist
“I don’t like Curley”
This displays the loveless side of Curley and his wife’s marriage. This communicates just how bad Curley is that his own wife doesn’t care for him, further hinting they may have an abusive relationship. Curley views his wife as an object more than a person which validates her dislike of him and makes the two being around each other less of a romantic bond and more of a societal obligation.
He worked himself into a fury
This line conveys how Curley may not truly care for his wife as a person. He doesn’t grieve her merely experiencing rage and a desire for revenge against Lennie who he already dislikes and may be taking his wife’s demise as an excuse to retaliate towards Lennie. Curley has little hesitation in coming to this conclusion as while he was is described as coming “back to life” the other ranch workers all have similar if not identical reactions to him so it’s unlikely he had experienced any internal grief or mourning before announcing his desire to kill Lennie and was likely just in shock of seeing a dead body like the other ranch workers. Interestingly Candy, who has displayed an open dislike towards Curley’s wife, has a more emotional and human reaction to discovering her body than Curley’s wife than Curley himself did even expressing his anger and sadness towards Curley’s deceased wife much more than Curley did
