How Steinbeck “Frames” the Characters

The Bunkhouse Door

Steinbeck describes the entrance to the bunk house as a “solid door with a wooden latch” at the start of chapter two. When the latch is “raised” and “the door opened”, the scene begins. The novelist then uses this threshold to define the differences between each character by the way they enter and exit the bunk house.

Curley’s Wife

When Curley’s Wife arrives at the bunk house, she “put her hand behind her back and leaned against the door frame so that her body was thrown forward”. She uses the frame to pose for George and Lennie and draw attention to her body.

The seduction is effective because “Lennie stared at the doorway where she had been” and George certainly noticed that “she was stand’ in the doorway showin’ her legs”. Her theatricality is appropriate for a character who thought she “coulda been in the movies”.

However, she didn’t cross the threshold into the men’s bunk house and remained outside, which could signify her inability to connect with the ranchers. There is also the ominous way “the rectangle of sunshine in the doorway was cut off” when she stood there. She is actually blocking the light and their exit.

Crooks

Crooks also remains on the threshold: “The door opened quietly and the stable buck put in his head”. The adverb “quietly” suggests that Crooks does not want to draw attention to himself or disturb the men inside.

In chapter four, Steinbeck tells reader that Crooks “kept his distance and demanded that other people keep theirs”. Then the character warns Lennie “I ain’t wanted in the bunk house”.

Crooks is segregated from the other characters because of the colour of his skin. Candy also mentioned how they let the stable buck into the bunk house at Christmas so they could watch him fight. It is no surprise, therefore, Crooks only “put his head in”.

Curley

The verbs used to describe Curley’s first entrance seem unremarkable. He simply “came into the bunk house” and, when he finished berating George and Lennie, he “walked out”.

As the Boss’ son, he simply comes and goes as he pleases.

The next time Curley arrives, he “bounced in” to ask about his wife’s whereabouts, and then “hurried out the door”. The third time he enters, he “burst into the room excitedly” to look for his wife and then “jumped out the door and banged it after him”. These verbs are more energetic and aggressive, perfectly defining his “pugnacious” and “angry” personality.

At the end of the third chapter, he follows Slim, apologising for a misunderstanding. After his hand is “crushed” by Lennie, Slim “helped Curley out the door”.

Slim

The reader hears Slim’s “footsteps” approach and then his “voice came through the door” when he said “Hi, Good-lookin’” to Curley’s Wife. The “prince of the ranch” doesn’t even have to reach the door to make his presence felt in the bunk house.

Steinbeck then offers the simple sentence, “a tall man stood in the doorway”, and proceeds to deliver a detailed appraisal of the character’s appearance and personality.