Curley’s wife, to whom Steinbeck does not give a name, is a bored, restless, newlywed woman still in her teens. As she has little to occupy her on the ranch, she wanders around and talks with the ranch hands. She tries to give the impression that she is friendly rather than flirtatious, but the men are suspicious of her behavior.

She seems to believe that her position as Curley’s wife entitles her to speak rudely to the men. The names she calls them are insulting, derogatory terms rather than nicknames. On Saturday night, when she crosses the line by ostensibly looking for Curley in the room of Crooks, the only African American ranch hand, Candy bluntly tells her to go away. Annoyed, she calls them collectively “bindle bums” and “a bunch of bindle stiffs,” meaning itinerant workers or unemployed vagrants. She then refers to Crooks, Lennie, and Candy as “a n----- an’ a dum-dum and a lousy ol’ sheep.”