Curley is the main antagonist of the book Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck. He is a boxer and the sadistic son of a plantation owner who goes out of his way to bully Lennie, later stirring up a lynch mob against him when Lennie accidentally kills Curley's wife.
What Makes Him a Hate Sink?[]
- He's a bully who enjoys picking on larger men, knowing that if he beats the man up he'll be praised for it, but if the man beats him up Curley can make himself look like the victim.
- He immediately antagonizes George and Lennie upon meeting them, getting in Lennie's face for no reason and demanding that he respond when spoken to, despite Lennie clearly being mentally disabled.
- He treats his wife as a trophy and is neglectful and controlling towards her.
- He tries to pick a fight with Slim and Carlson but is intimidated into backing down, showing his cowardice, then attacks Lennie for no reason and brutally beats him, resulting in Lennie fighting back and crushing his hand in self-defense.
- While he seems to be upset that his wife died, it's implied he's only using it as an excuse to get revenge on Lennie for crushing his hand, as he gloats that he's going to kill Lennie himself and stirs up a lynch mob to hunt him down, telling them to shoot him in the guts to make his death painful. This results in George killing Lennie to spare him the kind of death Curley would have given him.
- He gets away with his actions that led to Lennie's death, making him a karma houdini.