Comparison of Curley and Lennie in Of Mice and Men
Comparison of Curly and Lennie
Both Curly and Lennie are main characters in ‘Of Mice and Men’; although, they are very different in many ways, first of all Lennie is a very big and strong man we know is as ‘a huge man, shapeless in face’ whereas Curley is much smaller and weaker, Steinbeck describes him as ‘a thin young man with a brown face’. Therefore you would think that Lennie being the stronger man would be the most aggressive but in fact both Lennie and Curley are very aggressive, this becomes clear when they both have a fight in bunker house and Lennie ends up crushing Curley’s hand. The power of Lennie is shown when Steinbeck says, ‘Curley was white and shrunken by now, and his struggling had become weak. He stood crying, his first lost in Lennie’s paw.’ Animal imagery is used to show the true power of Lennie by describing his hands as paws you get the sense he is as strong as a bear which really makes Curley look and feel powerless in this situation.
Although Curley is the boss’s son he still seems very over powered by people, not just physical when he is fighting Lennie but after the fight he is over powered by Slim when ‘I think you got your han’ caught in a machine. If you don’t tell nobody what happened, we ain’t going to.’ This represents how weak Curley is mentally as he can be persuade by workers on the ranch to not tell about Lennie crushing his hand. Lennie is a popular character despite the fact he is very child-like, as Slim is kind enough to get Lennie out trouble even when they don’t know each other that well. Unlike Curley who is hated by most characters on the ranch which is why he persuaded by Slim not to tell on Lennie, Curley is almost being bullied by the ranch workers. From this the audience can see his true weakness as he actually listens to the others and doesn’t use his power of status to become a stronger and more powerful man.
Curley’s true angry and power is shown in the final chapters of the book, candy says, ‘We oughtta
Both Curly and Lennie are main characters in ‘Of Mice and Men’; although, they are very different in many ways, first of all Lennie is a very big and strong man we know is as ‘a huge man, shapeless in face’ whereas Curley is much smaller and weaker, Steinbeck describes him as ‘a thin young man with a brown face’. Therefore you would think that Lennie being the stronger man would be the most aggressive but in fact both Lennie and Curley are very aggressive, this becomes clear when they both have a fight in bunker house and Lennie ends up crushing Curley’s hand. The power of Lennie is shown when Steinbeck says, ‘Curley was white and shrunken by now, and his struggling had become weak. He stood crying, his first lost in Lennie’s paw.’ Animal imagery is used to show the true power of Lennie by describing his hands as paws you get the sense he is as strong as a bear which really makes Curley look and feel powerless in this situation.
Although Curley is the boss’s son he still seems very over powered by people, not just physical when he is fighting Lennie but after the fight he is over powered by Slim when ‘I think you got your han’ caught in a machine. If you don’t tell nobody what happened, we ain’t going to.’ This represents how weak Curley is mentally as he can be persuade by workers on the ranch to not tell about Lennie crushing his hand. Lennie is a popular character despite the fact he is very child-like, as Slim is kind enough to get Lennie out trouble even when they don’t know each other that well. Unlike Curley who is hated by most characters on the ranch which is why he persuaded by Slim not to tell on Lennie, Curley is almost being bullied by the ranch workers. From this the audience can see his true weakness as he actually listens to the others and doesn’t use his power of status to become a stronger and more powerful man.
Curley’s true angry and power is shown in the final chapters of the book, candy says, ‘We oughtta