Throughout time, mankind and nature were always in altered societies or different classes. Robert Burns, the author of To a Mouse, used a style of writing that incorporates both nature and mankind. The poem illustrates a sympathetic situation in which a farmer is walking through their field and unintentionally disturbs the nest of a mouse. Robert Burns uses the two different classes to express the farmer’s sympathy towards a society unlike his own. The poem shows a strong connection between two different societies and a questionable superiority.
The poem presents a conflict to the main character, the farmer, includes a decision of killing the mouse or to continue forward. The society of a mouse views mankind as an antagonist versus an
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ally, and the poems expresses the farmer’s remorse. In this situation, the mouse will need to find food by entering into an unfamiliar society to survive. The farmer comes to realize that maybe there is no superiority between the class of mankind and nature. As the mouse will always live in the present without any thought of past or future conflicts and goals. As mankind will always have the thoughts of past situations and forthcoming ones. Robert Burns wrote this poem in a dialect unlike any other; but would have to be slightly translated to modern terms. The farmer telling the story expresses how he would hate to chase the mouse and “Wi’ murd’rin’ pattle!” In which this dialect would be describing a murdering or killing paddle. Robert Burns uses devices like rhymes and alliteration to give the poem a mind grasping context. “Nature’s social union,” and “that ill opinion” are lines from stanza two that illustrate the bad opinion a mouse would have towards its’ enemy.
Personification was commonly used by Robert Burns when describing the destroying of the mouse’s house. As human qualities were given to nature.
Robert Burns’ poetry all have similarities with the style of writing and tone. With the poem keeping a rhythmic sound while reading allows the reader maintain interest and continue on. In To a Mouse, the reviving tone allows the reader to recognize the flaws but to also recognize the good side. For example, the farmer realizes the mouse has been the one stealing food but recognizes that the mouse is living in the moment. Survival was key to the mouse. The speaker’s mood throughout the poem would fluctuate from a state of sorrow for destroying the mouse’s winter home to expressing regret.
To a Mouse maintains the connection between the two societies of nature and human kind while gaining an understanding on superiority. Typically, the poem illustrates a conflict of man versus nature. Neither are superior. Mankind in the poem is noticed as an enemy to nature for the destruction mankind causes that affects the living of nature society. The strong connection between the mankind society and the nature society is conjoined with the sorrow and understanding. Human society will continue to change from the past and will always plan for the upcoming situations life brings. With a mouse focused on the present it is more than likely it
didn’t have a plan if its’ winter home were to be destroyed like in the poem. Sorrow for another society will help with understanding that society.
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.”
“Of mice and men” is about people who are lonely, sad and in search of
The first two lines of “The Mouse’s Petition” sets the tone for the poem. “Oh hear a pensive prisoner’s prayer / For liberty that sighs,” (Barbauld 1-2). “For liberty that sighs,” is an example of personification and also, the line is symbolic. A liberty that sighs makes the reader believe that the freedom is a sadness that will never be obtained. The captive mouse has given up hope of ever being free. Likewise, a woman in a male dominated Romantic society never saw an end to her oppression. This sets the tone, despair or hopelessness, of the poem.
In Of Mice and Men, the author attempts to portray the hardships that a man attempts to face yet fails to withstand. Set in the post-depression era, the book depicts the harsh truth of the
All in all, through the use of the characters in Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck is able to highlight how isolation that is forced on individuals by society ultimately leads to one’s suffering. The overall message of the novel is that no single individual should be mistreated because of a mental issue, his or her race, his or her gender, or the fact that one may have a physical injury. It is everyone’s human right to be treated equally and respectfully. No one should ever feel alienated from his or her surroundings. Loneliness is something that no one can avoid. As the story comes to an end, the story brings to light different causes of isolation, particularly discrimination and preconceptions.
To the average reader, “To a Mouse” by Robert Burns and Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck may initially look very similar, but after carefully critiquing and comparing their abundance of differences, their opinion will change. Steinbeck found his inspiration for writing the novel after reading that poem. His novel is set in Salinas, CA during the 1900s and is about migrant farm wrokers while the poem is about the guilt felt by one man after he inadvertently ruins the “home” of a field mouse with his plow. Even though they are two different genres of literature, they share a similar intent. The poem is written in first person, while the novel is written in third person omniscient. The vocabulary used to provide imagery is also another subtle different. Being two different genres of literature, they are destined to have both differences and similarities, but the amount of differences outweighs the aspects that are the same.
While reading the stories “Of Mice and Men” and the poem “To a Mouse” the audience can infer that both stories have to do with hope for a better future. While Lennie and George live on the ranch there
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.
Overall, it expresses the love and affection of Collin about this poem. This poem is basically looked at, or listened to, and the rodent tested. Such imagery used in poem supports the central ideas of Collin in poem, that the reading poetry must be, just like a good exploration, a discovery act. The poem has a very conversational effect and scholastic feel in it. First stanza directly linked to the second stanza while the third and fourth stanza of this poem has distinct thoughts in them. Similarly, the six stanzas come in a follow-up way but the mood actually changed in the last two stanzas of the poem. In short, Collin has written this poem in a very special and artistic way which really changes other’s minds about how to better understand a poem by knowing its actual meaning.
In the novel Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck brings out the themes of Lonliness and companionship, and strengths and weaknesses through the actions, and quotations of the characters. Irony and foreshadowing play a large roll on how the story ends. Lennie and his habit of killing things not on purpose, but he is a victim of his own strength. George trying to pretend that his feelings for Lennie mean nothing. The entire novel is repetitive in themes and expressed views.
The power of novels can allow readers to learn significant lessons about humanity and life experiences. Steinbeck’s novel “Of Mice and Men” set in Americas great depression of the 1930’s, explores the human need for company and the impact of loneliness. This is shown through the characters experiences of power and powerlessness on a barley ranch in California. Steinbeck shows his readers the need for compassion in times of cruelty, emphasised by the desperation of the era which the novel is set.
“I know not if this earth on which I stand is the core of the universe or if it is but a speck of dust lost in eternity” said Ayn Rand. The earth is only a “speck of dust” in eternity and therefore insignificant to the universe. Humans are also insignificant when compared to the universe because they are less than the size of the earth and overall do not matter in the cycle of life. This quote relates to the topic of naturalism because naturalism is the theory that literary composition should be based on an objective or an observation of human beings. In the novella Of Mice and Men George and Lennie, two ranch workers dream to have their own piece of land and ranch. They face many obstacles in their attempt to achieve to American dream including loneliness and disability. In Of Mice and Men Steinbeck reveals the naturalistic structure and characterizations of his novella.
"Stage and Screen." Of Mice and Men: A Kinship of Powerlessness. Charlotte Cook Hadella. New York: Twayne Publishers, 1995. 64-81. Twayne's Masterwork Studies 147. Literature Resources from Gale. Web. 11 Jan. 2012.
Written in 1937, Of Mice and Men, by John Adolf Steinbeck Jr., American author and Pulitzer Prize winner, follows the lives of downtrodden farmhands, George and Lennie. As with many of Steinbeck's books, the themes in Of Mice and Men include his favored themes of class warfare and oppression of the working class. Steinbeck also focuses his literature on the power of friendship and the corrupt nature of mankind. In 1993, Professor Thomas Scarseth wrote a critical analysis of the novella analyzing many aspects of Steinbeck’s work including the presentation, themes, and writing style. In his essay, Scarseth explains the key themes of the Novella. He noted that the corrupted nature of man, the injustice of life, and the power of friendship were three important themes of the book. Much of Scarseth’s analysis contained numerous thoughtful insights. Were his insights and opinions valid, or were his, and Steinbeck’s, perspectives on these issues flawed?
John Clare’s “The Mouse’s Nest” introduces the setting of the story in the first line, “the hay.” All of the 14 lines have ten syllables; some lines are in iambic pentameter, which contains an unaccented followed by an accented stress. This consistency of the rhyme indicates the steady life of the rural life Clare presents. The “a” sound of the simple words “grass” and “hay” seems to be similar in meaning, which reflects the simplicity of life in this rural environment. The observer’s point of view seems to be close when he sees the ball of grass. But in line 2, he “passed and went away,” indicating a shift in perspective as if there is nothing going on. The assonance of “as” and “passed” highlights the observer’s ignorance, as if his focus is not on the grass ball anymore.