Curly's wife...DEAD!

   "...the meanness and the plannings and the discontent and the ache for attention were all gone from her face. She was very pretty and simple, and her rouged cheeks and her reddened lips made her seem more alive and sleeping very lightly. The curls, tiny little sausages, were spread on the hay behind her head, and her lips parted" (92,93)

This is how Steinbeck described Curly's wife, after she was killed. This is incredibly ironic because whenever we see Curly's wife she is full of energy and is always moving.  She is a loud and wild force of nature. As Steinbeck also describes Curly's wife as "A girl [stood] there...'she was purty'...'standin' in the doorway showin' her legs...'" (32).  It shows that Curly's wife is always try to look for attention because she is they only women on the ranch.  So when Stein beck says that she is always showing off a little more that needed, it's weird to think that she is at peace and calm, even when she is dead.