Well-intentioned actions sometimes lead to unforeseeable, disastrous consequences. Theodore Roethke’s “The Meadow Mouse chronicles a young boy’s experience with a mouse he finds in the meadow and briefly cares for in a shoebox. Well intentions sometimes lead to unforeseeable, disastrous consequences. Theodore Roethke’s “The Meadow Mouse” chronicles a young boy’s experience with a mouse he finds in the meadow and cares for in a shoebox. His intense affection, naivety due to young age, and desire to domesticate the animal unintentionally lead him to taking away the mouse’s independence and _____________________. Though the mouse ultimately escapes and the speaker experiences separation anxiety and fear similar to that of a parent with a child leaving for college, the speaker fails to realize that his __________ sheltering only ____________ the mouse and leaves it less equipped and prepared to survive the dangers Yet his affection and naivety due to young age Through figurative imagery, ____________, and style, The speaker employs the use of figurative imagery to reveal the speaker’s affection for the mouse and his reason and motivation …show more content…
Yet, as his view of the mouse slowly transitions into believes that the mouse wiggles “like a minuscule puppy” (11) and “no longer trembles” (18) after some time with the speaker. By now viewing the mouse like a puppy, the speaker believes that the mouse can become domesticated, and in this revelation comes the speaker’s motivation to domesticate the wild animal. The belief that the mouse trembles just like a human being resembles the speaker’s belief that the mouse can become like human: obedient, trained, and
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.
In this short, but charming story, Amy Tan uses imagery to bring the story to life. With figurative language, the reader is immersed into the Chinese culture and can better relate to the characters. Tan main use of imagery is to better explain each character. Often instead of a simple explanation, Tan uses metaphors, similes, or hyperboles to describe the person, this way they are more relatable and their feelings better understood.
Burns talks about the mouse in sympathy and is sorrowful that he had taken the mouse’s home away from the mouse by accidentally destroying its home for the winter, and that the mouse’s dream was to dwell in their cozy home, and even though the mouse had prepared everything Burns says that “The best laid schemes of mice and men go often awry.”
With every decision one makes. There will always be consequences. In Haddon’s, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, the character Christopher and his parents find that their bad decisions could lead to a negative outcome. Mrs. Boone’s choice to leave home and Mr. Boone’s choice to lie to Christopher lead to him leaving home to search for his mother. A common theme of the actions of the characters is acting before thinking. The theme of decisions and consequences reveals the imperfections of each character, ultimately demonstrating the quintessential impatient need for growth.
For starters, the title itself is a strong case of foreshadowing. Steinbeck alluded Of Mice and Men from To a Mouse by Robert Burns. To a Mouse follows the trilogy of a small rodent that the writer accidentally harmed whilst farming - so, of course, the accidental harm brought onto generally docile creatures is quite relevant. In this poem, we see quotes such as “your small house, too, in ruins; Its feeble walls the wind are
Both “To a Mouse” and Of Mice and Men are very interesting and intriguing well-developed works by two distinctly different authors. The authors have different writing styles, as well as different ways of formatting their works. However, they share the same message. This message is that no matter what one does to prepare, they should always have a Plan B. Things can and often do go awry. By comparing both subjects, the reader can gain a better understanding of the similarities and differences between the two. They also learn precisely why the inquisitive author Steinbeck found inspiration in Burns’ detailed and symbolic poem.
As Mark Twain once stated, “The more I know about people, the better I like my dog.” This sentiment is often echoed by general society; people seem to have lost faith in humanity. However, John Steinbeck illustrates his more optimistic opinion about “the perfectibility of man” by suggesting how man can improve. In his novel, Of Mice and Men, two tenants called George and Lennie go through many hardships all while chasing their dream of possessing their own farm. While they work at a farm, they meet an old swamper called Candy who offers to help them achieve their dream; he does so to ensure that he will have a future after he is fired for being too old. On page 60, Candy discusses the recent death of his dog and asks to join in on George and Lennie’s dream. Through this passage, Steinbeck proves that humans have an animalistic tendency of eliminating those who are weaker than them. This is depicted through the details connecting Candy to his dog as well as Candy’s diction when describing his potential future life. Steinbeck’s negative attitude towards man’s predatory nature implies that society needs to improve and prevent such oppressive behavior from occurring.
The story begins with a for the most part regular mouse. Like most mice he is “Busy with Mice things”. However just shortly into the story you find that he is anything but normal when he begins to hear a “Roaring” in his ears. Others however ignore this saying “Are you foolish in your head? What sound?”. He tries to convince the other mice, but they are too closed minded to listen to him. These mice, to me represent my peers that are unwilling to take the time to look at the bigger picture around them. I myself am happy and content with my own little world. The story made me think about what I’m missing out on in life by being confined to my little box of thinking, that is my so-called life.
This novel’s title originates from Robert Burn’s poem “To a Mouse” written in 1785. Steinbeck’s book shows comparisons to this poem. One way it shows this is through the powerless and doomed fate of the mouse that has no control over what could happen to it based on its condition (“Reith”).
As the creature explores the teaching form the history book and the story and communication of the De Lacey family he insists, “I ought not to make the attempt until I had first become master of their language; which knowledge might enable me to make them overlook the deformity of my figure” (Shelley 95). Because the humans run away with fear in response to the creatures looks, he believes that the best way for him to relinquish their fear is by learning how to speak their language. Not only does he want to learn how to communicate with them, but he wants to become the “master of their language” so that his words overshadow the effects of his features. As many humans do, they judge the creature immediately without giving him an opportunity to explain his story. The creature is similar to humans in the way he responds to the judgment by others.
Piper’s use of imagery in this way gives the opportunity for the reader to experience “first hand” the power of words, and inspires the reader to be free from the fear of writing.
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
Doyle’s use of vivid imagery conveys that the heart is strong yet love still hurts. For example, Doyle states, “A hummingbird's heart is the size of a pencil eraser.” In this quote, Doyle uses vivid imagery to aid the reader in understanding that even though the heart may be small, the hummingbird feels the emotion just the same. Doyle uses a hummingbird heart as a metaphor for a human heart. No matter the
The creature has an overwhelming capacity to love as can be seen in his admiration for the peasants, “[The
In the book written by Spencer Johnson, Who Moved my Cheese, his allegorical comparison of real life characters portrays four main personality types, the book can be a source of reference to how people react to change. In the publication, there are two main optimistic and arduous characters: Sniff and Scurry. In effect, he decided to venture into private nursing where he provided care to the sick. He, thus, can be compared to Scurry, who was a mouse character in the book, Who Moved my Cheese?