Of Mice and Men

A literary allusion is a textual reference to another literary work or figure. Allusions can refer to historical periods, figures, and events as well as other authors, literary works, and characters. In employing allusions, the author empowers readers to draw from their own knowledge to make connections about the text. In Of Mice and Men, the novella’s title is an allusion to Scottish poet Robert Burns’s 1785 poem “To a Mouse,” in which a farmer inadvertently kills a mouse while plowing. In the poem, the remorseful farmer surmises, “The best laid schemes o’ Mice an’ Men / Gang aft agley.” This means that man’s best intentions are not enough to ensure a positive outcome and implies that a negative outcome is more likely. In Chapter 1, the novella establishes that Lennie has a pattern of unintentionally killing mice. In this way, Lennie is like the farmer, who regrets plowing over the mouse’s nest. However, George is also like the farmer. Despite his best intentions to keep Lennie safe from the world, he must kill Lennie to ensure the safety of others.