Please explain why Curley's wife has no name in Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men. Is Steinbeck trying to make a statement about women in society, etc.,...

In John Steinbeck's story Of Mice and
Men, Curley's wife does not have a name. I don't believe that in the novel
this has any social significance—such as women having a secondary role in society, etc.
Quite simply, Steinbeck's story is about two men trying to survive in a man's world:
from a social standpoint, the conflict they face is with society (which is governed by
men) and with individual men on the ranch. I believe that Steinbeck includes this woman
as a " href="http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/english/melani/lit_term.html">flat"
and " href="http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/english/melani/lit_term.html">static"
secondary character that drives the plot and that is
all.

This story is about George and Lenny. We learn of
their problems in the Salinas Valley—they are run out of Weed because Lenny gets too
physical in trying to feel the softness of a young woman's dress: another unnamed
female. When they arrive at the ranch, they have a chance to make a new start. George
has been coaching Lenny—a large man who is slow to learn and fails to understand
important rules within society. Curley's wife is someone George warns Lenny about. Like
a phantom, she moves in and out of the story, reinforcing the mood of disaster waiting
to happen. The most important element that Curley's wife adds to the story is one of
danger and fear. When she is around, the men are nervous and tell her to leave. Curley
could fire any one of them if he thought any man was flirting with his wife. These men
are in dire enough straits that they won't even speak to the woman if it means they
could lose their job.

As George struggles to guide Lenny,
and Lenny struggles to remember the things George has told him, the dream of a new life
shimmers in the distance for both George, Lenny, Candy—and possibly even Crooks.
However, the story is firmly placed in an era where dreams have been crushed for
thousands of people (because of the Great Depression). When Lenny kills Curley's wife,
it is an accident, but her death has served its purpose: hopes of a new life have been
destroyed, and George is forced to show how much he cares for Lenny by "saving" him from
the angry men chasing him because of the death of their boss's
wife.

Steinbeck includes Curley's wife to reinforce the
story's dark mood, and to act as a catalyst to create an insurmountable conflict that
brings the story to a close. As a "literary device," her name is not important, but what
she does—and causes Lenny to do—is central to the
story.