Portrayal of Curley and Slim in Of Mice and Men - 985 Words

In the novella, ‘Of Mice and Men’, the characters of Slim and Curley are created to have a strong influence on the other workers’ lives. While both the characters make an impact with the way they are presented, Steinbeck portrays them both very differently. He does this by giving the reader different impressions when each of the characters are introduced, the idiosyncrasies the author has given them, the way they treat others, how the rest of the characters react to the characteristics of Curley and Slim and why they influence particular characters. Curley is introduced as a very angry character; he ‘glanced coldly at George and then at Lennie’. He then tenses up and Steinbeck describes him in a fighter’s stance, Steinbeck foreshadows†¦show more content†¦The characters and the reader find his attempt to achieve sexual empowerment with his wife amusing and humorous. This shows the reader, Curley is mocked by the other workers and his t errorising approach towards them doesn’t work at a certain extent. Slim isn’t spoken of as much as Curley is, but in a conversation about Curley’s wife Slim is introduced by Candy. ‘Slims a jerkline skinner. Hell of a nice fella’ this shows the reader the workers enjoy speaking negatively of their peers and because they can’t find faults in Slim they don’t have the need to speak about him. Steinbeck doesn’t use other characters to show Slim in a good light but he uses them to degrade Curley’s status. Curley is the boss’ son, he seems to use this to influence people into supporting him when he decides to fight. He is also a boxer which influences fear within the ranch; Steinbeck makes him strain for authority, but he doesn’t gain any respect throughout the book because the workers already have an authoritative figure, who is Slim. Slim is ‘god-like’ and on the other hand Curley is ‘scrappy ’ and narcissistic, he is also laughed at by other characters. Overall, Curley and Slim are portrayed as very different characters. Both of the characters are significant, but the reader feels asShow MoreRelatedComparison Between of Mice and Men Novel Movie Essay787 Words   |  4 PagesOf Mice and Men Differences Between Movie and Book After having read the original version and the more recent film adaptation of John Steinbeck’s majorly successful novel, Of Mice and Men, the apparency of differences between the two is at times subtle while also being very obvious during different portions of the movie. In the film there are several major differences between the movie and the book with three being particularly apparent. 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