We delved a little deeper into the characteristics of the "naturalist " genre by detailing what type of environmental forces control the fate of the novel's characters. I noted how Steinbeck was interested in how social forces shaped the lives of the underclass or of society's outcasts. We then explored why Curley's wife, Crooks, Candy and Lennie are "outsiders" or considered societal discards who can not control their own destiny. We next examined the text with respect to Curley's wife and discussed ways in which she is depicted not as an immoral flirt, but sympathetically, as a lonely person whose dreams will never materialize. Bobby then began his chapter 4 quiz which he will finish for homework as a take home quiz.