Key Quotations/Ideas - Curley Flashcards
What does the quote ‘Curley stepped over to Lennie like a terrier’ show about Curley?
Terriers are dogs known for their hunting ability, so by using the word ‘terrier’ here, suggests that Curley is hunting for someone to fight.
He is shown as a character who’s always searching for trouble, and therefore approaches a guy like Lennie who ‘don’t want no trouble’
Give two quotes which show that Curley is an overconfident character that wants to prove himself to others?
“What the hell you laughin’ at?”
“I’ll show you who’s yella” when talking to Lennie
How does Curley show the attitudes towards women at the time?
He has a beautiful wife that appeals to many of the workers, yet he shows no affection. This is shown when she dies and the first thing Curley says when he sees her is “I know who done it?” This shows that he sees his wife as a possession and he feels the anger of a possession getting taken away
Curley is described as having “glove’s fulla Vaseline”. Why is this said in the novel?
It is a way for Curley to boast to other men in the ranch about the fact that he has a wife and they don’t, however Steinbeck uses this to display that it was very rare for men working on a ranch to have a wife as they were always moving around and working.
How do we know that Curley is insecure about himself and his position on the ranch?
He is often seen getting aggressive about his height showing that he is insecure about this, but he also has no natural authority on the ranch so he tries to claim some back.
How does Curley try to claim back his authority?
He wears “ high-heeled boots and spurs” to try to prove to others that he is not just a common labouring ranch worker. He wears a “leather glove” to remind both the other men and his wife that she is his.
What does Steinbeck show us through Curley?
That it is not just the poor and downtrodden who lead a bleak existence in society. Even though he is the boss’s son and has more wealth and power than the workers on the ranch, he is a victim of unsuccessful marriage and his only way to respond to this is by trying to seem more manly and his aggression towards the characters who are seen as weaker than him such as Crooks.
George says Curley is probably “eatin’ raw eggs”. What does this quote suggest the other characters think of him?
It suggests that they think he does a lot of body-building to help himself to seem more powerful and more in control, so he does not always have to rely on his aggression, but he can start to rely on his looks.
What two quotes are idioms which show that Curley is tense and cannot relax?
Curley has “yella-jackets” and his “pants is just crawlin’ with ants”.
What does the description of being as “yella as a frog belly” suggest?
The simile could also suggest that he just sits there watching and waiting for something to happen such as an argument, in the same way that a frog waits to catch flies to eat.
When Lennie and Curley fight, Curley is said to be “flopping like a fish” and “flopping” a paragraph later. What does this represent?
It is a simile which is used to describe Curley when he gets hurt by Lennie, and when Lennie kills Curley’s wife she “flopped like a fish”. Not only does this link the way the two characters get injured, but as they are couple, it shows that they are linked all the time, even if it is just slightly. However the simile used for Curley is continuous whereas the one used for his wife is definitive and this shows that her life has almost ended.
