What does 'Of Mice and Men' have to do with mice?

Answer 1

Someone has probably point out to you that the title comes from Robbie Burns' poem "To a Mouse" (If you haven't read it, it's here: http://www.worldburnsclub.com/poems/translations/554.htm ), where mice and people are compared, in that both make plans but do not control the outcome.

Furthermore, as you go through the book, you'll notice Lennie's fascination with small animals, including mice. He genuinely loves them, but is unable to handle them gently. In one scene, he accidentally kills a mouse. This foreshadows a murder later on in the book - the mouse and the person have died in the same way, and both deaths were equally inevitable.

To add to that, the line in Robert Burn's "To a Mouse" : "The best laid plans of mice and men/ are often gone astray." Besides for the actual words for the title actually coming from this line in the poem, in the poem, the mouse is described as laboring over creating a perfect nest, only to have it destroyed by a bird, causing the mouse to rebuild the nest.

The poem is depicting perfectly the idea of carefully prepared plans that people or animals make often don't work out.

This idea is shown in the book through George and Lennie's dream being shattered. Unrealistic as it may be in George's eyes, the dream is still something to hope and plan for, as he and Lennie had been doing for a long time. Unfortunately, this plan does not work out in the end.

Answer 2

The title "Of Mice and Men" is a reference to a poem by Robert Burns that reflects the theme of the novel - the best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry. In the novel, the title symbolizes the fragile and futile nature of dreams and aspirations, much like how mice's plans can be disrupted by external forces beyond their control.

Answer 3

Blacks were treated unfairly at the time, and Crooks was black. Crooks had his own room with his own stuff on the ranch.