Theme of Ruined Plans for the Future in Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck and To a Mouse by Robert Burns (Essay Example)

In Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck and “To A Mouse” by Robert Burns, the mouse, and Lennie both demonstrate the theme of ruined plans for the future.

In life, people tend to create large or small goals they want to succeed with. These goals we create can come with different outcomes, either exemplary or unpleasant. Nevertheless, Lennie and the Mouse’s goals don’t end up as planned. Lennie in John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men is one of the many demonstrations of these plans getting wrecked. Additionally, Lennie isn’t the only one who demonstrates this. The mouse from “To a Mouse” proves the same result as Lennie does, just in different ways. In Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck and “To a Mouse” by Robert Burns, Lennie, and the mouse both demonstrate the theme of ruined plans for the future. 

One way that the characters and works demonstrate this theme of ruined plans for the future is by defining what these plans are exactly, which for both Lennie and the mouse are food and shelter. More specifically Lennie from Of Mice and Men dreams of owning a piece of land with his best friend, George. Multiple times, to the point where both men knew it word for word practically, George has detailed to Lennie, “We gonna get a little place … We’ll have a cow … An’ we’ll have maybe a pig an’ chickens.” (Steinbeck). While living in the Great Depression, Lennie and George want a little more than stability by working land of their very own. Likewise the mouse in “To a Mouse'' wants something similar in the form of home and food to survive the winter. To prepare for winter the mouse prepared a home “Cozy here beneath the blast/ … to dwell.” (Burns 27-28). The mouse wants a “cozy” home for the winter, like Lennie and George want a little stable place to live. Therefore, the plans of Lennie and the Mouse begin to demonstrate the theme of ruined plans for the future in the two works. 

Another way both Lennie and the Mouse demonstrate the theme of ruined plans for the future is by the Mouse’s plans getting wrecked unintentionally by the farmer, whereas Lennie wrecked his own plans unintentionally.  For instance, Lennie from Of Mice and Men was at the barn when Curley's wife joins him. Both Lennie and Curley’s wife start having a conversation when meanwhile she allows Lennie to feel her hair. He then won’t stop stroking his fingers through when Curley’s wife wants him to stop. She then screams which causes Lennie to panic, “Don't you go yellin'," he said, and he shook her; and her body flopped like a fish. And then she was still, for Lennie had broken her neck.” (Steinbeck, pg 91). Not knowing how to control his own strength, Lennie had just accidentally killed Curley’s wife. The more Curley's wife yells, the angrier and frightened Lennie becomes which leads to these situations. Moreover in “To a Mouse '' the mouse peacefully lives in his own tiny home when the farmer plows it down, in the middle of the frigid winter, “I'm truly sorry man’s dominion Has broken nature’s social union, and justifies that ill opinion which makes thee startle At me, thy poor, earth-born companion And fellow mortal!” (Burns,7) Furthermore, the speaker shows the farmer's apology to the mouse, as a representative of all of mankind: he says that because mankind broke the natural harmony in the world. The farmer does this unintentionally not planning to harm the mouse. The author emphasizes this through tone. The farmer is worried for the mouse because winter is coming and the creature is now homeless. As stated in both texts, both Lennie and the mouse’s plans were wrecked unintentionally by himself or someone else.  

Additionally, both Lennie and the mouse demonstrate the theme of ruined plans for the future by being unaware or aware of the situation. Lennie does not understand what he had done to Curley’s wife whereas the mouse realizes what happened to his home. The mouse was in the fields after his house got wrecked. As the mouse was observing around, “...the fields lay bare and empty, And weary winter coming fast, And cozy here beneath the blast, you thought to dwell.”(Burns, 25) The mouse was thinking of what he should do being in this situation. The mouse had perceived what happened to his home. This is when he has to make the decision to dwell or not. Therefore in “Of Mice and Men '' Lennie doesn’t have the realization of what he did to Curley's wife, unlike how the mouse does with his home. After Lennie had just snapped Curley's wife’s neck, he repeatedly spoke to her; “When she didn't answer nor move he bent closely over her. He lifted her arm and let it drop. For a moment he seemed bewildered”.Lennie hasn’t yet comprehended what he had just done. He is examining her with no clue about the situation. Unlike the mouse who has a full realization and has plans to dwell. 

To conclude this thesis statement, I strongly believe that both the Mouse and Lennie’s plans get wrecked in different ways from one another. Both have dreams of big plans that don’t turn out as planned. We see this throughout the stories. These examples are proof of the thesis I have been trying to prove. Your goals may not always end with good conclusions, which were proved by Lennie and the mouse.