Many authors are influenced by other earlier works of literature, For example, John Steinbeck uses ideas from the poem “To a Mouse” by Robert Burns in his novel Of Mice and Men. It can be observed that Steinbeck used parts of the phrase: “The best laid schemes 0′ mice an’ men” in his title. When looking deeper it can be clearly seen that the two works have similar characteristics, In both works there is a parasitic partnership, one kills another, and plans created never come true. The plotline of OfMice and Men is simple: two men are partners working at a ranch. One of them, Lennie, is not as intelligent as the other but is much stronger. The other character, George, is the opposite. They have a plan to buy their own farm one day, but it never happens In the end Lennie gets in trouble for something he did not mean to do and is shot by George, even though he does not need to, еhe poem “To a Mouse” is about a farmer talking to a mouse before he kills it..
The farmer says that he is sorry that he has to kill him and sympathizes for the mouse, saying that mice and men have a lot of similarities. Even if the farmer did not kill the mouse he would die from the winter. In both works, plans go wrong, characters feed off of one another, and in the end one kills another even though he does not have [0. In both writings, partnerships have a person who feeds off of the work of the other. In Of Mice and Men, George feeds off of the money and work of Lennie. Crooks, another worker at the ranch, informs Lennie of this by saying “An’ where’s George now? In town in a whorehouse. That’s where your money’s goin”. George is throwing away everything for a cat house. Because of Lennie’s inferior intelligence George handles all of the paperwork and money of the partnership.
When Lennie is looking for his work card, George says to Lennie: “You never had none, you crazy bastardt I got both of ‘em heret Think I‘d let you carry your own work card?”(5)t George’s intellectual superiority allows him to oppress Lennie, and when Crooks informs him of this he does not believe him. With lots of money going to other places instead of the ranch, it will take more Lime for the two to purchase the ranch,if not stop or reverse all progress. Lennie is extremely interested in starting a ranch. He constantly talks about tending to the rabbits in the farm and George uses this to try to keep him out of trouble by saying “But you ain‘t gonna get in no trouble because if you do, I won’t let you tend the rabbits”, George manipulates Lennie’s passions by saying that if Lennie does anything bad he will not be able to play with the rabbits. By doing this George will try to work hard and be good while George gets more time in the cat house.
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In“To a mouse”, a mouse steals food from the farmer’s fields. Unlike the previous story, the farmer acknowledges and accepts the mouse stealing his food when he says “I doubt not, sometimes, but you may steal; What then? Poor beast, you must live!. The farmer knows that the mouse steals from him, but allows it Then the mouse “saw the fields laid bare an’ waste ”(25). The farmer has then harvested the field, leaving the mouse without food, The parasitic relationship lies vanquished. Both works symbolize a parasitic relationship, whether they acknowledge it or not. Secondly, plans go wrong in both works. This theme is evident in “To a Mouse”, where the speaker says “The best laid schemes 0′ mice an’ men Gang aft agley”. In “To a Mouse”, the speaker says to the mouse “Now thou’s turned out, for a’ thy trouble, But house or hald, To thole the winter‘s sleety dribble.
The mouse’s plan to take the farmer’s food failed, leaving the mouse death in the near future. In the novel, George, Lennie, and another character named Candy have a plan to, as Lennie says it repeatedly, “live off the fatta the lan”(14)t When Lennie gets into trouble Candy says to George “Then—it’s all off?” Candy asked sulkily. George did’t answer this question”(95). George does not want to think about all of the money because of his anger towards Lennie, George then says “I’ll work my month an‘ I’ll take my fifty bucks an‘ I’ll stay all night in some lousy cat house”(95). George now talks about his waste of money like it is no big deal. He does not care about the plan anymore. In both the novel and the poem, plans created by mouse and man go wrong. Lastly, both writings end with a character killing his friend that is already facing imminent doom, In “To a Mouse” a man kills a mouse he is a companion with ”murdering pattle”.
The speaker says “At rne, thy poor, earth born companion An’ fellow mortal!” While the speaker kills the mouse, “Wi’ murdering pattle”(5-6), he states that the mouse is his companion and that man and mouse are very alike because mice and men plan things and fail to reach their goals. Because of his poor planning, the mouse is doomed because of winterr The farmer chooses to put down his friend before the winter kills him. In the novel, George puts Lennie down when he already faces death at the hands of another person. At the end of the novel where the story began, “George raised the gun and steadied it, and he brought the muzzle of it close to the back of Lennie’s head. The hand shook violently, but his face set and his hand steadied”. A man is looking to kill Lennie for getting into trouble at this momentю
Because a man of authority told George that Lennie will die, George wants to take care of his own problems George kills Lennie even when he could just wait, Then Lennie “pulled the trigger” and the novel ended shortly thereafter, In both works of art, one friend kills another friend facing death. OfMice and Men takes the ideas from the poem “To a Mouse” with a very close comparison. George kills Lennie and the speaker kills the mouse. Both writing have a character who takes things from their friend. Both works are about plans failing and the sadness that surrounds it. Lastly, both writings have a character who kills a person in imminent doom. Both works have a story about characters feeding off of one another, killing one another, and of failed plans.
