Analysis of the Title Of Mice and Men

Essay by chewbacca33Junior High, 9th gradeA-, January 2008

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In the novel Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, the title greatly reflects the main idea of having all hopes and dreams crushed when they are finally about to become reality. Two men, George and Lennie, who are traveling together, arrive at a farm to work for money so they can settle down and have their own farm. Lennie has a disability and can’t remember things or learn from his previous mistakes, but George travels with him anyway. George always tells him about the little house they’re going to own someday and how they’re going to live off the land. Lennie, not knowing any better, gets into trouble and ends up being killed for his error. The main theme of the novel is that sometimes dreams can be flattened when they are just about to be accomplished and is greatly portrayed through the title.

The title illustrates the main idea of the book, having all hopes and dreams for the future destroyed, by referencing to the poem “To a Mouse” by Robert Burns, in which he tells a story of a mouse that was going to live its winter in a nice, warm home that he had made until a man drives his plow through it.

This is completely appropriate for the book because in the novel George and Lennie are hoping to someday own their own house but Lennie gets in trouble and ruins it for them.

They were just about to achieve their goals when it was snatched away. Two other characters, Candy and Crooks, were depending on their goal to be accomplished so that they could complete their goals. Both Candy and Crooks wanted to come and live with George and Lennie and help out around the farm but their expectations were never completed.