Question 1: Lennie and Curlie's Wife

Lennie and Curly's wife were both part of a big scene in part 5 in Of Mice and Men. First, Curly's wife tells Lennie about her past, and tells him about her childhood and later life. Curly's wife first says that when she was younger, many people asked her about joining shows and movies, but her mother rebuffed the invitation. First, an actor asked her to join a show with him but her mom did not allow her to because she was too young. She says how if she went along with him she would be living a completely different life. Another time an actor told her how she was a natural in acting and how she could be in movies. He told her that he would write back to her once he got to Hollywood, but she did not get the letter. She supposes that her mom stole the letter so she did not know. Instead of following her dreams, she married Curly so she could be somewhere she could achieve something and not be completely restricted. She then tells Lennie that she does not even like Curley, she admits that this is the first time she had told someone. She says how she could be living a much better life if she had followed her dreams and become an actor. I believe that Curly's wife confessed this to Lennie because she trusts and and feels that he would not tell anyone. She believes that Lennie would have no reason to tell anyone and would just probably forget because of his memory and childish mind. She also told him this because she needed to admit this to someone in order for her to feel better about the situation. She is also struggling with loneliness in a place where she is only allowed to talk to Curly. She believes that talking to Lennie will give her someone to talk to that she knows will not tell Curly. Next, Lennie tells her how he likes to pet soft things. Now Curly's wife says how she has nice and soft hair and tells Lennie he could touch it. Lennie touches it and then she jerks back over fear of messing it up. Lennie freaks out and grasps on. In response, Curley's wife screams and to prevent the men from hearing, he covers her mouth and shook her. She then broke her neck and died.