A published poem that relates directly to Of Mice and Men is the poem To a Mouse, by Robert Burns. Published in 1785, the poem was, in fact, the inspiration for the title of Steinbeck's novel.
But Mousie, thou art no thy-lane,
In proving foresight may be vain:
The best laid schemes o’ Mice an’ Men
Gang aft agley,
An’ lea’e us nought but grief an’ pain,
For promis’d joy!
In the poem, a farmer is apologizing to a mouse for inadvertently destroying its nest as he harvests his field. He tells the mouse that he meant it no harm, and that he believes himself and the mouse to be mortal companions. He is sorry that man's dominance over the earth and its creatures has led them to being in their current situation.
Some questions that could be asked about the novel and the poem could relate to common themes, the significance of the title of the book (and why Steinbeck chose that particular line from that particular poem), or the characters themselves. Given the presence of mice and other small, helpless creatures in the novel, it seems likely that Steinbeck took more than just the title from the stanza in the poem.
No comments:
Post a Comment