To A Mouse Analysis

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. The man acknowledges the mouse’s predicament: it has no shelter, (a necessity in life,) and tries to reassure it that everything will be okay. Similarly, Lennie panics about what to do after he accidentally kills Curley’s wife. Once George finds out what Lennie has done, he forgives him, saying that Lennie did not do it out of “meanness.” George, being Lennie’s friend, understands that there was no intention to kill Curley’s wife; yet, he knows that Curley will be furious and will go after Lennie.
In stanza two of the poem, it states that men have “broken Nature’s social union.” By using a main setting of nature, the poet describes a

The mouse is quick and “weary” from the hard work and may even go without some basic needs such as food. Its only goal is to build the house. The mouse originally built its house to be impervious against inclement weather; however, instead of acquiring the “promised joy” in a stolid structure, it experiences “grief and pain” from losing its home. In comparison, throughout the novel, Steinbeck incorporates dreams of his characters. George, Lennie, and Candy dream of owning their own place where they can “have a little house…couple of acres…a cow…[and] some pigs.” Just like how a man destroyed the mouse’s house, George, Lennie, and Candy’s dreams are destroyed once Curley’s wife is found dead. At this point, George and Candy know that Curley will most likely kill Lennie. They realize that the “dream ranch” they were hoping for is out of their