Curley's wife is a lonely woman who is mistaken as a "'lousy tart'" (82). She dresses and acts in an attention-seeking manner.
For example, she constantly asks the other men on the ranch if they have seen Curley as an excuse to talk to them. She does not do this because she has bad intentions, she does this because she does not have anyone to talk to. Curley's wife dresses very girly as well.
She wears “a cotton house dress and red mules” on the ranch. This is unusual because women who live on a ranch typically wear casual attire. Curley's wife does this because she is desperate for admiration. The men on the ranch don't realize that her behavior is a result of her lack of people to relate to. Therefore, she is viewed as a "tramp" (84). However, after Curley's wife died, Steinbeck
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"The meanness...and the ache for attention were [gone] from her face" (82). Furthermore,
Curley's wife looks as though she were innocent. Steinbeck depicts her in this way because he wants sympathy to be felt toward her.
Curley's wife is not who the men on the ranch think she is, rather she is just an outcast woman who longs for a friend. Crooks is a socially weak and isolated "negro stable buck"
(62). He lives in a time where segregation was enforced and
African-Americans were discriminated against. Because of this, people regard him as inferior. Crooks is often excluded and unacknowledged.
"'If [he] says somethin', it's just a nigger saying it'" (63). In addition to that, Crooks lives in solitary. For instance, he lives alone in his own cabin and he rarely gets visitors. His usual company consists of books and knick-knacks. He also does not go out. The other men on the ranch go out on the weekends, but not Crooks. He is confined to his cabin. When Crooks does get visitors, he tends to