Why is curleys glove full of vaseline

In , Steinbeck told a New York Times reporter:. Lennie was a real person. I worked alongside him for many weeks. He killed a ranch foreman. Got sore because the boss had fired his pal and stuck a pitchfork right through his stomach. I hate to tell you how many times I saw him do it. Steinbeck wanted to make Curley repulsive in some visceral way, and this is what he came up with. Points to Steinbeck if this is the case. No mean feat. Wearing the glove was absolutely disgusting.

I dreaded putting it on every time. The glove got heavy, and it felt almost alive somehow. Also, I took my glove off when I visited a middle school for work. As difficult as this would be to explain to a TSA agent, I felt a middle school administrator would be, rightly, even more suspicious. It's just revolting as an idea, and it's revolting in practice. While we live in a world that's mostly about avoiding judgment for how people have dressed themselves, it just seems that a glove fulla Vaseline says something about a person.

And it's not good. If you hide a pistol in the first act, that pistol better re-emerge later on. Likewise, you give me a glove full of Vaseline, that glove and its Vaseline better be important later on. I re-read the book. Which seems like a huge missed opportunity. What better thing to do with this baby-ed hand than crush it until bones crack through skin?

No description of Lennie squeezing the be-glove-ed hand, Vaseline oozing out at the wrist. No dramatic removal of the Vaseline glove to show the gore underneath.

Curley never actually touches his wife. I daresay a glove fulla Vaseline is such an engaging, interesting object that it deserved a little more. I learned nothing from my glove fulla Vaseline. Other than people find it disgusting and a terrible idea.

Steinbeck, you got some splainin' to do. Peter Derk lives, writes, and works in Colorado. You go on get outta my room. They say I stink.

Well, I tell you, you all of you stink to me. Maybe I will yet. His authority was so great that his word was taken on any subject, be it politics or love. Without Lennie, the hope of the dream of escaping their difficult life as ranchers is washed away. He knew. Ace your assignments with our guide to Of Mice and Men! Why does Curley keep a glove full of Vaseline?

How did Lennie kill her? Did Lennie get kicked in the head? Why does George say Lennie get kicked in the head by a horse? What is his reaction? What two imaginary visitors does Lennie have while sitting on the river banks?

Aunt Clara and a Rabbit. Both are mad at him. When George tries not to let Lennie talk to the boss, why is the boss suspicious? He worries that George might be taking advantage of Lennie.