"George cut the cards and began turning them over, looking at each one and throwing it down on a pile. He said, "This guy Curley sounds like a son-of-a-bitch to me. I don't like mean little guys." "Seems to me like he's worse lately," said the swamper. "He got married a couple of weeks ago. Wife lives in the boss's house. Seems like Curley is cockier'n ever since he got married." George grunted, "Maybe he's showin' off for his wife." The swamper warmed to the gossip. "You seen that glove on his left hand?" "Yeah. I seen it." "Well, that glove's fulla Vaseline." "Vaseline? What the hell for?" "Well, I tell ya what-Curley says he's keepin' that hand soft for his wife." George studied the cards absorbedly. "That's a dirty thing to tell around," he said. The old man was reassured. He had drawn a derogatory statement from George. He felt safe now, and he spoke more confidently. "Wait'll you see Curley's wife." George cut the cards again and put out a solitaire lay, slowly and deliberately. "Purty?" he asked casually. "Yeah. Purty...but-" George studied the cards. "But what?" "Well-she got the eye." "Yeah? Married two weeks and got the eye? Maybe that's why Curley's pants is full of ants." "I seen her give Slim the eye. Slim's a jerkline skinner. Hell of a nice fella. Slim don't need to wear not high-heeled boots on a grain team. I seen her give Slim the eye. Curley never seen it. An' I seen her give Carlson the eye." George pretended a lack of interest. "Looks like we was gonna have fun." The swamper stood up from his box. "Know what I think?" George did not answer. "Well, I think Curley's married.... a tart." "He ain't the first," said George. "There's plenty done that.'"
Steinbeck creates the dialogue between the three men demonstrates the authenticity and "gritty" verisimilitude
that he intends to create a realistic, colorful view for the reader. The swamper's eagerness to share any unheard gossip demonstrates the men's hunger for companionship, relating to the stable buck, Crooks', recurrent loneliness. The sick detail in which the swamper eagerly enlightens George, exemplifies the enthusiastic tone in which the old man expounds (concerning details like the swamper's polluted gossip about Curley's glove). His awed tone describing "the eye" satirizes the flirting of Curley's wife, along with the accentuated shock of the creation of Curley's wife as a "tart."
