Soobin Lee and Eun Jeong Youk

Discuss the presentation of outsiders

Candy

Characters presented at outsiders

Crooks

Lennie

Curley’s wife

Click on one of the characters to read

their analysis

Curley’s Wife• Women are treated with contempt

throughout the course of the novel. Curley’s wife is the only female in the ranch - Her marriage with Curley only makes the situation worse. Curley cares very little for her, and is more interested in sexual behaviors. She also often talks about her American Dreams.

• “glove full of vaseline”

• “He says he was gonna put me in the movies. Says I was a natural” Back to characters Next page

Curley’s Wife• The men in the ranch tend to avoid Curley’s

wife because of her husband’s status and possessiveness. They also believe Curley’s wife is a troublemaker, who brings misfortune to men.

• “Seems like they ain’t none of them cares how I gotta live”

• “…I seen ‘em poison before, but I never seen no piece of jail bait worse than her.

• “…cause she’s a rattrap if I ever see one.” Back to characters Next page

Curley’s Wife • Curley’s wife loneliness has changed her demeanor

towards others. Making her to become insecure and promiscuous. she’s first seen as a flirt; “tramp” or “tart” to every men she encounters. This is present with her overdone makeup and her flirtatious actions.

• “She had full rouged lips and wide spaced eyes heavily made up.”

• “She put her hands behind her back and leaned against the door frame so that her body was thrown forward.”

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Lennie• Lennie’s lack of intelligence causes all the

other men in the ranch to look down at him. They treat him as an imbecile and refuses to let him join to any of their outings.

• “Everybody went into town. George says I gotta stay here an not get in no trouble.”

• “… he get’s in trouble alla time because he’s so God damn dumb”

• “talkin to …a dumdum”

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Lennie• However Lennie is too dim to understand

his loneliness. Instead he seems to put himself in a position as an outsider, who lives in their own world where everything evolves around whether something pleases George or not.

“An live off the fatta and the lan…about the rabbits…the rain in the winter…and the stove…- Lennie’s American Dream.

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Crooks • Steinbeck differentiates Crooks to other ranch workers through the level of intelligence.

“…a tattered dictionary and a mauled copy of the California civil code for 1905.”

The detailed description of the book suggests that he isn’t interested in the social spectrum. (Dislikes communication and interaction with others)

• Steinbeck explores the issue of racial discrimination in the novel to present Crooks as an outsider.

“…keep your place then Nigger. I could get you strung up on a tree so easy it ain’t even funny.” (Curley’s wife)

The use of the word ‘Nigger’ creates a sense of power and segregation which conveys the low social status Crooks has in the ranch. Back to characters

Candy • Candy is portrayed as an old, disabled man.

“…out of the sleeve came a round stick-like wrist, but no hand”

(Candy lost his right hand from an accident) Candy’s disability caused the boss to find him less useful than before. This illustrates Candy as an outsider by contrasting his weakness to the other characters like Slim. (Slim- “…prince of the ranch…”)

• Candy’s dog’s death foreshadows his own fate of being an outsider.

“…I wisht somebody’d shoot me if I got old an’ a cripple” (Slim)

This suggests the cruel natural law of getting rid of the weak. Carlson kills Candy’s dog because it was old and weak. –Candy might no longer be welcome at the ranch as he is old, disabled with a demeaning job.

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