Why does curley wife threatens crooks

Lennie asks George to tell him about their dream. George describes owning their own home and land, where they would grow vegetables and rear animals and become self-sufficient. The following morning, George and Lennie go to the ranch where they meet Candy an elderly handyman and the Boss in the bunkhouse.

The Boss questions them and is suspicious when George answers for Lennie, but he allows them to stay. Carlson a ranch hand convinces Candy to allow him to shoot the dog, saying it is kinder because he is suffering. Crooks interrupts and says they are kidding themselves about this farm because George is in town spending their money at a whorehouse.

Exclaiming that the money is actually in the bank, Candy describes their farm where "couldn't nobody throw him off of it. Curley 's wife appears in the doorway, claiming that she is looking for Curley and complaining that she just wants someone to talk to. Candy says accusingly that she has a husband and she should not be fooling around with other men.

When Curley's wife protests that Curley doesn't spend time with her, hates everyone else, and just talks about fighting, she suddenly remembers Curley's smashed hand and asks what happened to it. Candy tells her twice that Curley caught it in a machine, but she doesn't believe him. Lennie watches her, fascinated, and Crooks keeps very quiet. Finally, Candy tells her to go away because she is not wanted in the barn.

He adds that he has seen countless men go on about the same piece of land, but nothing ever comes of it. A little piece of land, Crooks claims, is as hard to find as heaven.

Both men are uncomfortable at first but Candy is respectful and Crooks pleased to have more company. Candy talks to Lennie about raising rabbits on the farm. He has been busy calculating numbers and thinks he knows how the farm can make some money with rabbits. Shyly, Crooks suggests that maybe they could take him along with them. Candy insists that she leave and says proudly that even if she got them fired, they could go off and buy their own place to live. She sums up her situation, admitting that she feels pathetic to want company so desperately that she is willing to talk to the likes of Crooks, Candy, and Lennie.

She teases Lennie about the bruises on his face, deducing that he got injured in the scuffle with Curley. Fed up, Crooks insists that she leave before he tells the boss about her wicked ways, and she responds by asking if he knows what she can do to him if he says anything. The implication is clear that she could easily have him lynched, and he cowers. Candy says that he hears the men coming back, which finally makes her leave, but not before she tells Lennie that she is glad he beat her husband.

George appears, and criticizes Candy for talking about their farm in front of other people. This section introduces the character of Crooks, who has previously only made a brief appearance. Like the other men in the novella, Crooks is a lonely figure. Every man is struggling, trying to find work. Steinbeck teaches the reader about the struggle of working hard for their dreams, having hope, and never giving up. A prime example of this is George, who tells his dream and creates dreams for other people.

Curley's wife is the most dangerous character in the novel, because she is the loneliest one. Because of her need for attention, she destroys George and Lennie's dream of living "off the fatta the lan'. She is described as a "purty" woman because she is always made up. Even on the ranch she has "full, rouged lips" and her hair lies in "little rolled clusters, like sausages.

When she speaks with George and Lennie, she wears a "red dress" and has red lips. The symbolic meaning of the colour red in literature is danger.