In the novel Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, why did Curly keep his hand soft for his wife?

Question

In a passage in the novel when they are introducing Curly it says that he Kept his hand in a glove filled with vasoline to keep his hand soft for a wife. Why did he do this? Is it something sexual? Or is it just saying that his wife liked soft hands?

Answer 1

When I first read the novel I did not understand the allusion either. It's only been in the last few years that I realized the full implications of what Curly said.

Curly wanted a very soft hand so that he could stroke and probe his wife's female parts. More significantly however, is the fact that he essentially bragged about it to a group of underlings. He disrespected his wife, hinted at his power over her, and intimidated and shocked men who rarely experienced either. It is at the precise moment when the reader knows Curly is bad news; it is a foreshadowing of his later abuse of her and the havoc he wreaks among the crew.

Answer 2

It is an exposure by Steinbeck of the basically perverse nature of Curly and allows for Lennie's later crushing of Curly's hand.
P.S. Have you ever seen the movie version with Lon Chaney , Burgess Meridith , music by Aaron Copeland. A masterpiece.

Answer 3

It was believed wearing a glove of vasoline gives you better sex back in the whenever Of Mice and Men was written in.

Answer 4

I thought it was so that he wouldn't mark her up as bad when he slapped her around. Maybe it was just 'cause he was a pre-vert.

Answer 5

Ask Larry or Moe,, Nyuk,Nyuk,Nyuk

Answer 6

it was so when he perposed he would have a soft hand to hold his fiance's hand with while perposing.

Answer 7

curly is a pervert.