Imagine the utter destruction of your home, better yet imagine you just accidentally destroyed someone else’s home and are understandably upset for the grief that you have just caused. Robert Burns being a Scottish farmer very well could have committed such a crime, yet the victim was a mere mouse. His poem, ostensibly biographical, To a Mouse is his apology to this insignificant creature, for plowing over his nest. Burns is examining the way of life of this mouse in comparison to his own life, to his own problems. This “compassion for the mouse becomes pity for the poor, then pity for all existence” (Perkins 13).
The storyline begins with the ploughman, out plowing his Scottish fields on a windy November day 1785 when his plowing tool ran its course right through a tiny creature’s home. The mouse runs in terror because of her past experience with the human race. The mouse knows that she is considered a vermin and that she will be hunted as one. As insignificant as this event seems in a day of the life of a farmer, Burns continues the conversation with the mouse to express his disturbance at how “my world, has broken into your world.”
Burns elevates the status of the mouse from vermin to “fellow mortal” who is also exposed to “accident, loss, old age, and death” (Perkins 8). The ploughman feels the compassion and sympathy for the poor creature. He empathizes with the plight of living, and surviving. Burns himself has had his share of tribulations and understands that everyone must do what is necessary to battle the harsh obstacles of life.
Burns, talking to the mouse, says that he understands that the mouse must steal to live. The farmer says that as long as he takes the miniscule amount needed to survive, that he prob...
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...t place. These decisions can have an outcome completely different for my life. I can’t plan it out yet because I don’t know what the future holds, I can only “guess an’ fear."
Works Cited
Cummings, Michael J. To a Mouse (Robert Burns) a Study Guide. March 2010. 15 March 2010 .
Perkins, David. "Romanticism and Animal Rights." Perkins, David. Romanticism and Animal Rights. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2003. 7-13.
Probst, Robert, et al. "Elements of Literature sixth course literature of Britain." Austin: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, 1997. 640-644.
Sibbald, David. Robert Burns, Analysis of To a Mouse. 2007. 13 March 2010 .
Webster. Webster's New World Dictionary of the American Language. Clevland; New York: William Collins+World Publishing Company, 1977.
The authors John Steinbeck and Robert Burns approach their ideas in very different ways, while having the same themes the reader comprehends key concepts in a different light. Throughout the short story “Of Mice and Men” and the poem “To a Mouse” the theme of hope is a key concept, even though while in both stories their hope did not bring them their happiness, friendship brought them together. Correspondingly while having similar themes of friendship, loneliness, and hope, this all takes place in different settings with different characters.
Singer, Peter. "Animal Interests." The New York Review of Books, March 28, 1985, Vol. 32, No. 5.
The Onion's "Girl Moved to Tears by Of Mice and Men Cliffs Notes" is an article with satirical and critical tone about a young communication major, Grace Weaver, who is emotional moved by reading the synopsis of the American classic Of Mice and Men over the original novel. In this article, the author describes Weaver's process and reaction to the assigned reading that aims to entertain an audience who has read the book. By using subtle satire and descriptions that let the reader understand the dangers of Weaver's shortcomings, the author is able to emphasize the importance of doing your own good work in a humorous and interesting manner.
"Of Mice and Men" is a novel by John Steinbeck, written in the 1930s, a period known as the Great Depression. The novel, which takes place in Salinas, California, is about two workers, George and Lennie. The two men travel together and work on different ranches, with a dream of one day having their own farm. Steinbeck explores the themes of loneliness friendship, and hopes and dreams through the various characters and events. This extract takes place after George and Lennie arrives to a new ranch to work. John Steinbeck uses foreshadowing to prepare the reader for future events. This is done by the use of repetition, symbols, and metaphors. In this extract, the author foreshadows the events to come through the introduction of Curley's wife and through the reaction of George and Lennie. This extract is significant to the rest of the novel as it introduces the main antagonist, Curley's wife, and also influences what the reader thinks and feels about Curley's wife, as well as the danger the character poses.
‘Of Mice and Men’ is based on the experiences of a migrant farmer, set in 1930’s America. The characters are also symbolized as realistic people, but influenced by the issues and circumstances based on the Wall Street crash, the American Dream and being set after WWI. I empathies for these characters for the consequences of these historical events are what to have made ‘Of Mice and Men’ a tragedy in relation to loneliness.
Lennie Short, who is one of the main characters in the novella Of Mice and Men, has defining characteristics that exposes the true meaning of the book. The complexity of the Lennie’s nature is so thought provoking that the story, Of Mice and Men, is often considered one the greatest short works of fiction of all time. Predominantly, Lennie is a kindhearted, simple-minded soul who unfortunately is mentally disabled. Lennie also has a very distinctive external feature, his size. Being a massive individual, Lennie is magnificently strong and never intentionally causes harm to other beings. In contrast to his size Lennie has a love for all things soft mice, puppies, Curley’s wife and most of all rabbits. It is for this reason that readers find the book remarkable. In a secluded setting at the beginning of the story, Lennie tells George “But I wouldn't eat none, George. I'd leave it all for you. You could cover your beans with it and I wouldn't touch none of it.” (page) This quote expresses the author, Johns Steinbeck’s point of view of Lennie, by starting the book off showing multiple acts of benevolence towards Lennie’s partner George. Even though Lennie is a beast of a human, and is capable of severe destruction, he is an empathe...
The power of novels can allow readers to learn significant lessons about humanity and life experiences. Steinbeck’s novel “Of Mice and Men” set in Americas great depression of the 1930’s, explores the human need for company and the impact of loneliness. This is shown through the characters experiences of power and powerlessness on a barley ranch in California. Steinbeck shows his readers the need for compassion in times of cruelty, emphasised by the desperation of the era which the novel is set.
The novel Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck, is about two ranch hands, George and Lennie. George is a small, smart-witted man, while Lennie is a large, mentally- handicapped man. They are trying to raise enough money to buy their own ranch, by working as ranch hands. During the setting of the story, they are at a ranch whose owner’s name is Curley. It is in this setting that the novel reveals that the main theme is death and loss.
Linzey, Andrew. Introduction. Animals on the Agenda. Ed. A. Linzey et al. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1998.
Abrams, M.H., et al. ed. The Norton Anthology of English Literature. 6th ed. 2 Vols. New York: Norton, 1993.
In “To Build A Fire”, the main conflict throughout is man versus nature although it would be inaccurate to say that nature goes out of its way to assault the man. The fact of the matter is, nature would be just as cold without the man's presence regardless of him being there .The environment as a whole is completely indifferent to the man, as it frequently is in naturalist literature. The bitter environment does not aid him in any way, and it will not notice if he perishes. In the same way, the dog does not care about the man, only about itself. Ironically enough though, as the man was dying he was getting upset toward the dog because of its natural warmth, the instincts that it had, and its survival skills and those were the elements that the man lacked for survival. It is ironic that the man had to die in order to find out that man's fragile body cannot survive in nature's harsh elements, regardless of a human’s natural over-confidence and psychological strength.
The main character, Abner Snopes, sharecrops to make a living for his family. He despises wealthy people. Out of resentment for wealthy people, he burns their barns to get revenge. Abner’s character over the course of the story is unchanging in that he is cold hearted, lawless, and violent.
Roberts, Edgar V., Literature: An Introduction to Reading and Writing, 4th Compact Edition, Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall, 2008, print
... main character. The mouse, which is scurrying around Marcy's house, can represent her free self that does not want to be tied down. The traps that the mouse repeatedly escapes are representations of the traps that Marcy herself escapes when dealing with people throughout the story. The lazy cat that has nerve damage from eating the rat pellets can represent Marcy if she allows herself to be controlled by the people around her. Although, the reader can see the link between the main character and the animals, it isn't until the end of the story that Marcy realizes that the mouse is really warning her of what will happen if she gives in to the 'traps'. By physically seeing the mouse being caught by the nose in the trap and seeing the misery on its face, she realized that this is the same way that she will be if she allows her spirit to be controlled by others.
Through the use of allusion, Steinbeck uses the poem “to a mouse” by Robert Burns to show that “The best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry” or no matter how carefully something is planned, something could still go wrong with it. This quote relates to Lennie and George to their “American Dream”; "'Well,' said George, 'we'll have a big vegetable patch and a rabbit hutch and chickens. And when it rains in the winter, we'll just say the hell with goin' to work, and we'll build up a fire in the stove and set around it an' listen to the rain comin' down on the roof...'"(Steinbeck 14-15). Although they had big plans they all started crumbling down when Lennie started getting into trouble and by the end of the book had to be killed for his own good. While Lennie and George's hopes and dreams are being crushed, so are the mouses. In the