Curler does not allow her to speak with the other men, and they reject her every time. When she attempts to talk or flirt with them, she is quickly rejected. None of the men want any trouble with Curler. Having no one else, the men on the ranch are the only people she can confide in. She even says,”Standing’ here talking’ to a bunch of bindle stiffs- a Niger an’ a dumb-dumb and a lousy 01′ sheep- an’ liking’ it because they into nobody else. ‘(Steinbeck 78) This quote explains how lonely and desperate she is for company.
She is disgusted by the three men, but likes them much better than being by herself. She is also quick to shoot down the men when they reject her, pointing out their biggest flaws in order to make herself feel better again. When she finally gets Leonie alone, she knows it is the perfect opportunity to take advantage of him. She begins talking on and on about how she could have been a movie star instead of living on the ranch. “Curlers wife convinces herself that her mother stole the letter, rather than realize that the guys aren’t interested in her talents. (Shampoo) One of her biggest flaws is not seeing things for how they really are. She does not realize the men just generally do not want anything to do with her, and she continues to make advances to them and be a flirt. Like most people during this time, she had a dream, and no chance of ever making it a reality. Not even a person to share it with. With her husband paying her little to no attention, she almost has no choice but to throw herself at the men to make her feel like someone.
She is first scribed as having “full, rouged lips and wide-spaced eyes, heavily made up… Her hair hung in little rolled clusters, like sausages… She put her hands behind her back and leaned against the door frame so that her body was thrown forward. ” (Steinbeck 31 ) She is aware of her beauty and uses it in advantage of the other men and to make Curler jealous. In order to distract herself from the loneliness, she resorts to being promiscuous. This quote shows how she portrays herself as a where, and it is partially her fault she is given negative attention.
A readers first opinion of Curler’s wife would be to hate her, which is not entirely her fault. Her lonesomeness causes her to act out. She is as mean as she can possibly be, but on the inside, she is hurting and has no other outlets. “Steinbeck seems to show, through Curler’s wife, that even the worst of us have our humanity. ” (Clientèles) This quote shows that Curlers wife’s intentions are not all bad, and once the reader gets to see this, one might almost feel bad for her. At one point, every one is the world needs somebody, ND that is something everyone can relate to.
There is only three women total mention in the book: Lenin?s aunt Clara, the girl from Weed, and Curlers wife. Aunt Clara is the only woman not put down. The woman in Weed falsely accused Leonie of rape, forcing him and George to have to move to Solaced. This shows that women were seen as an affliction to men and nothing more. Curlers wife is the biggest representation of this, and is shown as a manipulator of men. It shows that women were able to get what they wanted from men through sexual advantages, therefore asking women a distraction to men’s goals.
While Steinbeck intentions were not sexist, they simply showed the true life of a woman during the Great Depression. Towards the end of the book is when he begins revealing Curlers wife true side, changing many readers’ initial opinion of her being a where. When she talks of her dreams, she becomes more humane. Unfortunately, all of these points factor to her death. Although she is pretty much afraid of Leonie, she is desperate for his attention because he is the only one.
