Of Mice and Men Forum

I was just curious, but does anyone know the reason for the title "Of Mice and Men" ?  I was thinking it had to do with Lennie, how it liked to pet the mice and everything, but I also heard it had something to do with a poem.  Any ideas would help.  Thanks!

I believe the poem is scottish poet Robbie Burns'.

The full stanza is as follows:
"The best-laid plans of mice and men
Gang aft agley (=often go wrong).
And leave us naught but grief and pain
For promised joy."

Think of the plans that George and Lennie had... Consider the fragility of dreams.  George and Lennie had everything all planned out, nice and simply, yet everything still fell apart.

Hope this helped!

That explanation was terrible. I'm even more confused than that other guy.

Thats a completly unnecessary comment, but the reason mostly has to do with the fact that Lennie always tried to keep the mice, and just the fact that George could have had so much control over lennie. This entire book focuses on the 'American Dream'. Remember that it was written during the great depression.

the explination was perfect........

Thanks 4 whoever wrote it.......

I think it's called that because Lennie killed mice, and then he killed people. very simple. don't think to deeply into things ^.^

the title is From a poem by Robet Burns
As well Lennie Killed a mouse and then to a "Man" (Curley's Wife)

Another explanation of the title is the saying, "the best laid plans of mice and men often come to naught." which means it doesn't matter how well you plan things out, stuff happens to mess it all up.

Yes, the title comes from Burns's poem.  And the great value of Geroge and Lennie's dream is not so much in its fruition but in the way it gives them hope, something to look forward to, and a reason to save their money.  It also helps George to handle Lennie--he can always get Lennie to behave by threatening not to let him tend the rabbits.

Curley's wife has a dream to be an actress, but that goes awry too.  So does Curley's dream of being a boxer.

i think it was because lennie was lost in the world of mice and didnt understand the world of men because while we see other characters' personal and mental analysisis, (which are very complex and confusing, something Lennie could never understand) Lennie is always stuck in the simple world of mice and bunnies..if that makes any sence at all...

or maybe the author is just a retard.
or maybe i am..
oh well. = P

help got to do compare slims treatment to George and lennie and  ho curly treats George and lennie different

Curly does not understand the friendship of George and Lennie.  He says, "Oh, so it's that way?" implying that they are intimate.  Slim, in contrast, makes no such assumption.  He just says, "Funny how you and him string along together," and lets George explain.  And Slim understands the value of a friendship.  Curly does not.  To him, a man has no friends.  A man is alone.  Even his wife is not his friend--she is a piece of property which he spends most of his time watching over so that the other men will not steal her.

Wow, that's interesting.
I never thought that Curley was implying that George and Lennie were lovers until you pointed that out.

"We travel together," said George coldly. "Oh, so it's that way." George was tense, and motionless. "Yeah, it's that way."

Hm. Guess it makes sense.

Wait. I'm confused.. so at the begging Curly thought George and Lennie were gay?

The dialogue seems to suggest it. 

In the time of the novel, men did not have friends.  A man was too tough and independent to need another man's companionship.  Most of the men on the ranch do not understand why George and Lennie stick together.  The boss thinks it's because George is taking Lennie's pay; Carlson thinks it's because Lennie is big and provides protection for George, who is a small man.  Curley thinks it's because they are intimate.  Only Candy and Slim and Crooks understand friendship: Candy becuse he has his dog, Slim because he is wise, and Crooks because he knows rejection.

that is a good explanation to that question but that poem that i read was not that intresting even for kids my age -_-

i am confused too buddy!!!!!!=^.^=

NO HE THOUGHT THEY WERE TROUBLE !!!!!!!!!

NO TO CLARIFY WITH EVERYBODY...

IT IS NAMED OF MICE AND MEN BECAUSE...

Robbie Burns, and old scottish poem wrote a poem called " To a Mouse", and in this poem, in the 7th verse, it says

the best schemes o' Mice and Men
Gang aft Agley....

this means that the best plans of mice and men often go astray, like what happened to Lennie and George and their plan to have a wonderful ranch..

btw.. tips*** John Steinbeck doesn't add anything in his literature that isn't important!

he didnt think they were lovers... it was just an unsual sight in the 1930's to see two migrant workers living with each other, because of the tough economic times ( GREAT DEPRESSION)

I agree with Liam F, Curly didn't think they were homosexual, he was confused. It was unlikely that he had ever see 2 men traveling together before

Gary Farber approvingly points out this interview of leftist author Paul Berman. Leaving aside the now decades-old linguistic error equating leftism with liberalism, there is much discuss ...

You could begin with this point of view that, morally speaking, it’s incumbent upon us to resist absolute oppression, but having made that decision, it might not help you at all in analyzing politically who are the true oppressors, what is the real oppression, what is the best way to resist it. What you see in the book is a picture of the left from the 1950s and 1960s, when serious people—and I take everybody in the book seriously—were floundering in their efforts to answer these questions, and coming up with answers that are really wrong unto insanity.

bj, your post makes no sense whatsoever. Stop trying to see more in the book than Steinbeck put into it. He's just saying "stuff happens to spoil our plans." Curly misunderstands George and Lennie. Whether his line "So it's that way?" implies homosexuality doesn't really matter. The point is that no one (except Slim) can fathom why two men would be pals.

The poem basically means even the best, most wanted dreams don't go right even if you were a man or a mouse. And the key theme in the book is dreams. Notice aswell how each persons action stops anothers dream from happening, e.g Lennie kills Curleys Wife, shatters her dreams but in the long run shatters Candy and Georges and His....

I DONT CARE WHAT ANYONE SAYS
THE REASON IT IS NAMED "OF MICE AND MEN''
IS BECAUSE IN THE 7TH STANZA OF THE POEM "TO A MOUSE" BY ROBBIE BURNS
IT SAYS THAT THE BEST LAID PLANS OF MICE AND MEN OFTEN DONT WORK OUT
THIS HAS TO DO WITH LENNIE AND GEORGE'S PLAN TO HAVE A RANCH, WHICH DIDNT WORK OUT

Back to the homosexual undertone...my sophomore class got into a discussion about the various themes of the book...one interesting fact is how John Steinbeck portrayed all the women in this book..Aunt Clara is dead, whorehouse, woman in the red dress lied "rape", Curly's wife...all these women have negative characteristics...why??? what is Steinbeck trying to tell us?

The book is about friendship. The men in this novel have no friendships. Even the women are not "human" to them. They are toys for pleasure (Susue and her girls), or property (Curley's wife), or liars (the woman in Weed), or dead (Aunt Clara). The men have no human connection--it's not manly. The few connections we do see are broken: Candy loses his dog (the one friendship that anyone accepts in the novel), Lennie loses his pup, Whit lost Bill Tenner, and George loses Lennie.

I think Steinbeck's point in the negative characteristics of women is that the men are "all scared of each other," as Curley's wife says. They desperately want human connection, but they don't dare admit that to one another. Sad, really.

i can't believe i didn't pay attention to that at first i did think about it but then i thought thats dosn't have anyhting to do with the story

that was a good explanation

Steinbeck has confirmed the title was inspired by the Robert Burns poem, but that doesn't mean people are wrong if they see other meaning in it. Isn't literature all about bringing your own meaning to the table. That's why Bob Dylan doesn't ever discuss his lyrics, because half the fun of reading and listening to music is what it means to you, and what it makes you think and feel.