Short answer: In Chapter 5 Candy mainly blames Curley’s wife for what has happened, and he also shows a sense of personal loss and regret. His blame is understandable but only partly fair or correct.
Step by step:
1) What Candy says and feels: When Candy finds Curley’s wife dead, he is devastated because the dream he has invested in with George and Lennie (the little farm) is now shattered. He directs anger at Curley’s wife — seeing her as the cause who ruined the future he had hoped for. That anger is immediate and emotional: she has been the catalyst whose death means there will be no farm and, more importantly, serious consequences for Lennie.
2) Why he blames her: There are two reasons behind Candys blame. First, he sees a direct causal link: Curleys wife was talking to Lennie, letting him stroke her hair, and when the situation spun out of control her death was the immediate result. Second, Candy is grieving the loss of the shared dream and needs someone to hold responsible. Blaming her channels his shock and fear that everything he had hoped for is gone.
3) Is Candy correct? Not entirely. His blame is understandable but incomplete for several reasons:
- The immediate physical cause of the death was Lennies inability to control his own strength and his panic when things went wrong. That personal lack of control is central to what happened.
- Curleys wifes actions contributed to the situation: she was seeking attention and provoked the encounter by letting Lennie touch her hair. However, she did not intend to be killed; her behavior grew out of loneliness and frustration, not malice.
- Broader social factors also matter: the environment of the ranch (isolation, lack of supervision or help for men like Lennie, and the way women are marginalized) sets the stage for such tragedies. Curleys aggression and the mens attitudes toward both Lennie and the woman are part of the context.
4) Conclusion: Candys blame of Curleys wife is a natural, emotional reaction in the immediate aftermath. It expresses anger, grief, and the fear of losing the dream. But it simplifies the reality: responsibility is shared among circumstances, Lennies lack of control, and the social pressures on the characters. Blaming Curleys wife alone is neither wholly just nor fully accurate.
Quick tip for essay use: Use Candys reaction to show how grief and the collapse of hope make characters look for a single person to blame, and then discuss the multiple causes Steinbeck presents (individual, social, and structural) to show a more nuanced reading.