The word “original” is often used to describe paintings that have been manufactured by hand, but it is not clear whether hand-made copies of work are still considered so. When an artist copies another’s art, is his own art original now that it has been tainted by the thoughts’ of others? The poem “To A Mouse” by Robert Burns served as inspiration for John Steinbeck when writing the famed tragedy “Of Mice and Men.” Steinbeck, a Nobel prize-winning author, set many of his books during the Great Depression or the California Dustbowl, times when the future seemed bleak. In Of Mice and Men, man-child Lennie and his “father figure” George form an unsuspecting friendship, and set off into the world with their dreams of one day buying land and settling down. The characteristics of these protagonists are directly taken from the Burns’ poem, which describes similar characters. Is such a close emulation detrimental to the value of originality in the work? Steinbeck believed that “only through imitation do we develop toward originality,” a motif seen in Of Mice and Men. Inspiration is necessary for all art, but by exploiting Burns’ poem, Steinbeck bastardizes the innocence of originality.
The affection the narrator displays for the mouse in Burns’ poem mirrors the affection George displays for his friend Lennie in Of Mice and Men. The narrator starts by convincing the mouse that he is not an enemy, and that he will do the mouse no harm. “Wee, sleekit, cow'rin', tim'rous beastie, O what a panic's in thy breastie! Thou need na start awa sae hasty…I wad be laith to rin an' chase thee” (lines 1-5). In this portion of the poem, the narrator attempts to establish a rapport between himself and the mouse. By the same token, in Of Mice and Men, G...
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...s to encroach on the basic right of individuality. Individuality allows for the progression of one’s own idea to become original work. Steinbeck uses Burns’ best piece of literature and infringes on its right to exist. Although Of Mice and Men is famed for its groundbreaking use of euthanasia, the idea itself was taken directly from Burns’ poem. The credit that Steinbeck procures for his novel detaches from the acknowledgment that Burns should receive. Such pilfering of an idea taints the concept of originality and is a gross violation of Burns’ work. Originality is thought to be a keystone of good writing, and yet Steinbeck was able to create a masterpiece by mimicking the ideas of another author. His success is testament to the concept that originality is an unachievable feat, merely causing artists to pursue phantoms in their quest to conceive the inconceivable.
John Steinbeck, the author of the novel Of Mice and Men uses many stylistic devices and description in chapter one to give the reader a deeper understanding of what may occur throughout the novel. Firstly, the name of the city the two protagonists, Lennie and George, are heading to is called “Soledad,” which means loneliness in Spanish; this is symbolism and foreshadowing because it can mean that as they get closer to the city, their relationship as friends may deteriorate and they may end up alone towards the end. Furthermore, this could also mean that there can be major problems in further chapters because of Lennie’s unpredictable behaviour due to his mental disabilities. In relation to Robert Burns’s poem, “To a Mouse,” the author may be
Written in 1937, Of Mice and Men, by John Adolf Steinbeck Jr., American author and Pulitzer Prize winner, follows the lives of downtrodden farmhands, George and Lennie. As with many of Steinbeck's books, the themes in Of Mice and Men include his favored themes of class warfare and oppression of the working class. Steinbeck also focuses his literature on the power of friendship and the corrupt nature of mankind. In 1993, Professor Thomas Scarseth wrote a critical analysis of the novella analyzing many aspects of Steinbeck’s work including the presentation, themes, and writing style. In his essay, Scarseth explains the key themes of the Novella. He noted that the corrupted nature of man, the injustice of life, and the power of friendship were three important themes of the book. Much of Scarseth’s analysis contained numerous thoughtful insights. Were his insights and opinions valid, or were his, and Steinbeck’s, perspectives on these issues flawed?
Once upon a time a naive man named Bob was accumulating a bunch of candy. He was stupid enough to adorn his gingerbread house with candy. The ruinous mice ate all his candy. The disconsolate man set out to get back his candy and kill the mice. He blundered around until he stumbled to a river, so Bob decided that this was a good place to rest for the night. The next day the sleep deprived man was captured by the mice. He woke up face to face with a odious mouse. Bob struggled indignantly against the rough hemp rope. The mice rasped and drowned on and on about mice being superior to all other animals, meanwhile Bob slowly untied the rope that bound him. Suddenly he was free moving slowly he grabbed a stick. When the mouse turned his back on him
Lennie’s innocence and inability to recognize his own strength is shown through his interaction with the mice. Lennie intends to innocently and affectively
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.
Lennie's killing of mice and later his killing of the puppy sets up a pattern that the reader expects to be followed. George's story about Lennie and the little girl with the red dress, which he tells twice, adds to this expectancy, as do the shooting of Candy's d...
The major themes identified by commentators in Of Mice and Men are friendship and isolation, hope and futility(Votteler 334). Through George and Lennie's friendship, the hope to achieve their dream is kept alive. "George, little and clever, feels that Lennie has been given into his keeping"(Moore 341). "Simpleminded and gentle, Lennie possesses great physical strength and becomes unwittingly destructive when startled"(Votteler 334). Although Lennie is very strong, he is also very timid and has trouble remembering things, but under George's control, Lennie is calm and docile since he just does what George tells him to(Moore 341).
Burns, Robert. “To A Mouse.” Poets.org. The Academy of American Poets, Inc., n.d. Web. 14
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
Use of phrases or words to give the reader a hint or sign of something that will happen in the future in the story.
In the book Of Mice and Men Lennie and George are men who go to a farm to work; As Lennie being “kicked in the head by a horse” as a child, is led by George as always. But, somehow Lennie always gets into trouble. Weed made them run, and now they are in Salinas Valley. I have chosen to use Animal Imagery that appears in John Steinbeck’s book. Actually, the title starts with an animal: a Mouse. Animal’s are always part of Lennie’s life dreams and troubles. John Steinbeck used it to show Racism, Mental State, and Body Language.
Lennie is a massive and powerful man, but is dull-witted, George on the other hand is scrawnier and not as mighty. Both are hearty individuals just trying to survive a tough life. After Lennie’s Aunt Clara passed away George took the responsibility of looking after Lennie. Through good and bad times George has learned to love and protect him. Lennie, an animal lover at heart always takes pleasure from petting them. He loves all small, soft, fuzzy things and cannot help himself from petting them. During their journey to the new ranch, Lennie catches a mouse, “I could pet it with my thumb while we walked along.'; (Steinbeck:6). George hates it when Lennie catches animals and plays with them “well you ain’t petting no mice while you walk with me.'; (Steinbeck:6) because he knows Lennie could end up killing the tiny animal. Lennie does not know his own strength and handles the mouse too rough “you’ve broke it pettin’ it.'; (Steinbeck:9) After the two men spend the night in the woods, they finish their journey and arrive at the ranch.
To the average reader, “To a Mouse” by Robert Burns and Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck may initially look very similar, but after carefully critiquing and comparing their abundance of differences, their opinion will change. Steinbeck found his inspiration for writing the novel after reading that poem. His novel is set in Salinas, CA during the 1900s and is about migrant farm wrokers while the poem is about the guilt felt by one man after he inadvertently ruins the “home” of a field mouse with his plow. Even though they are two different genres of literature, they share a similar intent. The poem is written in first person, while the novel is written in third person omniscient. The vocabulary used to provide imagery is also another subtle different. Being two different genres of literature, they are destined to have both differences and similarities, but the amount of differences outweighs the aspects that are the same.
Even from the very start of John Steinbeck’s novel, Of Mice and Men, the uniqueness of George, as a character, is already noticeable. He is described as “small and quick, dark of face, with restless eyes and sharp strong features” and has an obvious dominance over the relationship between Lennie and himself. This lets the reader know from a very early stage in the book that George is different, and probably the essential character. George’s character seems to be used by Steinbeck to reflect the major themes of the novel: loneliness, prejudice, the importance of companionship, the danger of devoted companionships, and the harshness of Californian ranch life.
John Ernst Steinbeck's novels The Grapes of Wrath and Of Mice and Men share many common themes such as dependancy, survival and unity. Although subtle, the most intriguing link between these two novels is Steinbecks infatuation with the human soul. He delves deep into the human heart and pulls forth very strong emotions such as devotion, compassion and sympathy. These feelings are what propel Steinbecks novels forward. It is through the microcosmic relationship of George and Lennie, in Of Mice and Men, and the social macrocosm of the migrants, in The Grapes of Wrath , that Steinbeck illustrates the limitless reaches one would go for his fellow man once a bond has been formed.