'To A Mouse': A Literary Analysis

Of Mice and Men and Foreshadowing During the last stretch of the Great Depression, in 1937, sociologist Paul S. Taylor estimated that about 200,000 to 350,000 people in the US were migrant workers. Migrant workers were workers who would move around the country and take temporary jobs. At that time period, migrant workers made up about a sixth of the population in the US at the minimum! John Steinbeck’s novel, Of Mice and Men, is the story of two migrant workers named George and Lennie who go from job to job to try to get enough money to fulfill their dream of owning their own farm. When they take a job they take on a ranch, everything changes for them, and that is where the story takes place.

The poem Of Mice and Men has many symbols that refer to the life of people during the Dust Bowl. The whole poem tells the life of when the men had to handle to get a job and survive. The poem refers to how if you get fired, it is very hard to find another job. It was like this because during the time of the Great Depression, people did not need to have a ton of workers because of the new supplies. Also, there was not much to farm.

Lennie and George find themselves becoming more hopeful after Candy successfully manages to turn a dream that was originally meant for two men into a dream for three. He tries to help George and Lennie attain their dream, and convince them that, “S’pose I went in with you guys. Tha’s three hundred an’ fifty bucks I’d put in. I ain’t much good, but I could cook and tend the chickens and hoe the garden some” (59). He also shows the two friends of the possibility towards failed outcomes- symbolized through Candy’s inability to kill his own dog.

I ain't much good, but I could cook and tend the chickens and hoe the garden some. How'd that be?’" (Chapter 3, 58 - 61). Candy had been working and saving for almost his whole life, it is very similar to George and Lennie’s plans of working and saving to buy their

In contrast, there is a nice old man they met his name is Candy, an elderly ranch handyman with one hand and a old dog. Slim, an intelligent person whose dog has recently had a litter of puppies. Slim gives a puppy to Lennie and Candy because he wanted to do something nice and he wanted to accomplished his friendship with fellow ranch-hand Carlson. In spite of problems, their dream is not coming true because they don't have enough money to get there own

Candy says, “Maybe if I give you guys my money you’ll let me hoe in the garden even though I ain’t no good at it” (Steinbeck 60). Candy is now wanting to go with them and says he has money to put in. He tells them he has money he can give them right now and that changes everything for them. They were all filled with joy when they realized things were actually going to come true. When George realizes it he says “We’ll fix up that little place and live there” (Steinbeck 60).

Candy is willing to provide for the good of the group, which allows Lennie to take care of the rabbits, while giving George his own place to work and settle in. Having Candy along gives George the companion he needed, providing a balance within the three. Despite George and Lennie being involved in a very positive relationship, the two of them on their own create a very toxic relationship. George is often repressed by Lennie without Lennie being aware of what he’s really doing. George is basically Lennie’s caregiver because he is constantly reminding him what was said, and what to do in trouble, so Lennie has an advantage in the relationship over George.

They both allow candy to join in their dream of owning land, which fills candy with optimism. Their yearning of owning a piece of land makes them ambitious that aspires them to make every possible effort to achieve their target in life. Candy’s bond of friendship deepens with George and Lennie as he discusses his

Candy was rambling on about the money and George agreed to let him in on it. He was hesitant, but they knew he would need it. He probably knew Lennie would do something foolish that could kill him and he needed a backup plan for the farm. He didn’t want to make him survive on his own, but rather, “I want you to stay with me, Lennie. Jesus Christ, somebody’d shoot you for a coyote if you was by yourself.

But in reality, they are alike because they both want to find a place of their own and are different than everyone on the ranch. In Candy’s case, it is because of his age. Meager janitorial jobs take effort to complete, so he fears he will soon be let go. Holding on to George and Lennie’s dream makes him feel secure because he knows he will have somewhere to go once he becomes too old to help. After his death, he will leave his money to George and Lennie to keep the farm going.

The American dream is something that we all strive for in one way or another. Whether it’s being equal to the people around you, or having freedom to be successful in whatever you want in life. But for the characters in Of Mice and Men it is the dream of owning land and being independent from everyone else. But the American Dream is not something that is given to you, it includes work ethic, knowing that the dream may be impossible and the sacrifice that may have to be made. These are all things that George and Lennie and other characters in the book have to do to eventually reach the American dream.

“To a Mouse” by Robert Burns events and purpose are related to Of mice and Men. The connection between the title for the book "Of Mice and Men", and the actual storyline is a poem written by poet Robert Burns. This poem is about a mouse who builds his home in a wheat field, only to have it destroyed by a ploughman. The home the mouse had dreamed of living in for the winter is now gone, forcing the mouse to face the cold, harsh, winter homeless. This title is appropriate for the story because the dreams that Lennie and George had were similar to those of the mouse.

Steinbeck may also be using the word “fire” to foreshadow that George and Lennie’s American Dream might not come true and will die away just like the fire . When Curley’s wife is blocking the sunlight from entering, by standing in front of the doorway, Steinbeck is using darkness to foreshadow that she is ominous and dangerous for George, Lennie and their dreams. The sun streaks were high up on the wall now, the light was growing soft now”, this symbolizes that Curley’s wife’s soul was rising up and away from the Earth, taking George, Lennie and Candy’s dreams with it. “ Sun streaks” represents Curley’s wife’s soul and their dreams. “Already the sun had left the valley to go climbing up the slopes of the Gabilan Mountains, and the hilltops were rosy in the sun.”, gives the impression that something malicious was going to take place.

John Steinbeck’s novel Of Mice and Men is inspired by Robert Burns’s poem “To a Mouse.” Additionally, both writings contain a similar theme: the dreams that people dream often cause “grief and pain” instead of joy. The poem starts off with a mouse in “panic” since its home is disturbed. The man suggests to the mouse not to fear him, saying he will not hurt it.

When candy hears about the dream that George and Lennie have he wants to join them by giving them money so they could accomplish their dream ““S’pose I went in with you guys. Tha’s three hundred an’ fifty bucks I’d put in” (Steinbeck, 67) this shows that since Candy found friends he did not want to leave them since he is lonely, and he will do anything so he could stay with them. The futile part of this dream is that George does not want his help, and Lennie dies at the end which means Candy’s dream will never be