Fleeing From Jud_________________________

On the way to the social in a horse-drawn wagon
Jud reveals that he is obsessed with Laurey.

"Last time I saw you alone, it was in the winter," he says.
"I was sick and I remember you brung me some hot soup
out to the smokehouse....and you asked me if I had a fever
and you put your hand on my head to see."

"I remember," Laurey says.

"Do you. Bet you don't remember as much as me," Jud replies.
"I remember everything you ever done; every word you ever said.
I can't get it out of my mind. You see how it is."

Then he grabs her.

To deflect his advance, she whips the horses,
which run out of control.
When Jud gets off the wagon to calm the horses,
she leaves him behind.

Now the scene shifts to the social.
At a charity auction
for young women and their picnic baskets,
which is part of the event,
to raise money for a new schoolhouse,
Curly and Jud, (who has walked to the social),
bid everything they have for the company of Laurey
and her picnic basket.

But, after Curly wins, their rivalry turns deadly.
Earlier, Jud had purchased the Little Wonder
with the risqué pictures from Will.
Apparently Will, in his innocence, didn't know it
but the Little Wonder is a wonder of death,
with a blade that can pop out and maim the user
when something is pressed.
It's a trap that draws in the unsuspecting viewer
with the promise of forbidden pictures
and then snaps, cutting or killing him.

Like the Hellish underworld of Laurey's dream,
and like Jud's smokehouse room
with the noose and gun and nude pictures,
the Little Wonder is a representation of the connection
between licentious sex and death.
In terms of symbolism, it says that being seduced
by forbidden sexuality results in wounding and death.

Jud shows the Little Wonder to Curly,
who has no idea it is a weapon,
and invites Curly to look through it.

But the peddler, who knows what it is,
tells Aunt Eller and she saves Curly
by inviting him to dance, just before Jud's trap is sprung.

.

Jud now threatens Laurey,
telling her she will never be rid of him.

"I ain't good enough for you, am I?" he says.
"I'm a hired hand. I got dirt on my hands; pig slime.
I ain't fit to touch, am I? You're better.
Oh, you're so much better.
Well, we'll see how much better you are, Miss Laurey,
and you won't be so free and easy and high falootin with your airs.
You're such a fine lady," he says angrily.

Laurey then fires him from his job
as hired hand on the farm.

"...You brought it on yourself. I can't help it," says Jud.
"I can't never rest. I told you how it was.
You wouldn't listen. You ain't never gonna get rid a me, never."

Jud's angry words reinforce the idea that
he believes he has been forced into his degraded role
by other people, who feel he isn't good enough for them.
His effort to win over Laurey was a partial attempt
at an escape, if only by dragging her into his world.
But now it too has become entangled in hate.

Fearing for her life, Laurey flees to Curly for protection
and, after he kisses her, she is driven
by temptation and can't stop seeking kisses.
He asks her to be his wife and she says yes.

It is now obvious that her resistance to Curly
has been, not merely a fear of change or of giving in,
but a resistance to sexuality,
covered over with feigned anger at the man she loves.
She put up a wall to protect herself
and now, driven into Curly's arms
by a fear of the dark side of man,
which is haunting her, the wall breaks down
and her natural desires for this good man,
who will be her protector, come out.

His heart full of love and hope for the future, Curly
tells Laurey he will quit ranching and become a farmer,
raise sons, and help build
what will become the State of Oklahoma.
Already, it seems, the prospect of marriage
is spurring Curly to take the final step into adulthood.

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