Of Mice and Men
October 29th 2006 20:01
In "Every Man for Himself", Sawyer's backstory included a shot of him reading "Of Mice and Men", the book by John Steinbeck that oh-so-many-of-us had to read in high school. Later, in the same prison backstory, Sawyer says to Munson, "Now you've had a good cry, mind if I go back and see if George gets his farm?" And, in the last scene on the island between Ben and Sawyer, Sawyer asks Ben if he's taking him to "that place you always wanted, George?" then acts smug that Ben doesn't recognize the reference. Ben turns the tables moments later when he quotes a lengthy passage about loneliness and Sawyer doesn't recognize it as being from "Of Mice and Men". I suspect, though, that Sawyer never finished "Of Mice and Men". He seems to have no idea of how depressing the book is.
The producers have said that the books they show are carefully selected and have meanings related to the show. John Steinbeck's stories always end with the main character losing his dreams and suffering for them, sometimes even dying because of them. With Josh Holloway's Sawyer such a popular character, I'm going to stubbornly go with the idea that Sawyer won't die.
Wee, sleeket, cowran, tim'rous beastie,
O, what panic's in thy breastie!
Thou need na start awa sae hasty,
Wi' bickering brattle!
I wad be laith to rin an' chase thee,
Wi' murd'ring pattle!
I'm truly sorry Man's dominion
Has broken Nature's social union,
An' justifies that ill opinion,
Which makes thee startle,
At me, thy poor, earth-born companion,
An' fellow-mortal!
I doubt na, whyles, but thou may thieve;
What then? poor beastie, thou maun live!
A daimen-icker in a thrave 'S a sma' request:
I'll get a blessin wi' the lave,
An' never miss't!
Thy wee-bit housie, too, in ruin!
It's silly wa's the win's are strewin!
An' naething, now, to big a new ane,
O' foggage green!
An' bleak December's winds ensuin,
Baith snell an' keen!
Thou saw the fields laid bare an' wast,
An' weary Winter comin fast,
An' cozie here, beneath the blast,
Thou thought to dwell,
Till crash! the cruel coulter past
Out thro' thy cell.
That wee-bit heap o' leaves an' stibble,
Has cost thee monie a weary nibble!
Now thou's turn'd out, for a' thy trouble,
But house or hald.
To thole the Winter's sleety dribble,
An' cranreuch cauld!
But Mousie, thou are no thy-lane,
In proving foresight may be vain:
The best laid schemes o' Mice an' Men,
Gang aft agley,
An' lea'e us nought but grief an' pain,
For promis'd joy!
Still, thou art blest, compar'd wi' me!
The present only toucheth thee:
But Och! I backward cast my e'e,
On prospects drear!
An' forward, tho' I canna see,
I guess an' fear!
--"To a Mouse" by Robert Burns
From the second to last stanza comes the title and the theme of the book "Of Mice and Men".
The best laid plans of mice and men
Often go astray
And leave us naught but grief and pain
For promised joy.
"Of Mice and Men" has two main characters: George, a small working-class man, and his friend Lennie, a very large, very strong, mildly retarded man. Lennie is kind, but doesn't know his own strength. He loves to pet soft things, like mice and rabbits, but often kills them accidentally. Early on in the book, we learn that George wants a farm, and on this farm, George tells Lennie they will raise rabbits for Lennie to tend.
George has dreams of rising above what he was born into. He doesn't want to be a laborer working for someone else all his life; he wants to be the farmer and hire the laborers. At a ranch where they are working, George and Lennie talk about their dream and other laborers want to come work for them. The dream begins to seem real
There is a character who hates Lennie, and by extension George, unreasonably (like Danny Pickett hates Sawyer), the laborers are often reminded that they are only laborers and not to look too high (as Sawyer is often reminded he is a conman and a blight on society), and, of course, the theme of loneliness and needing other people underlies much of the plot (Ben makes the point that Sawyer pushes Kate away even while it's obvious that he cares about her.)
Skip this next paragraph if you don't want to know the end of the book.
"Of Mice and Men" ends tragically. Lennie accidentally kills a woman and lynch mob goes looking for him. George finds Lennie where he's hiding, assures him that he's not mad at him, then kills Lennie himself, saving him from the mob. The mob arrives and only one person seems to realize what a difficult thing George has just done. George is as alone as Sawyer believes himself to be.
The inability of the characters to rise above their own lives echoes Sawyer's belief that he is what he is and it's too late to change.
Need more information on "Of Mice and Men" by John Steinbeck? Try Bookrags' "Of Mice and Men" page.
Want to read "Of Mice and Men"? Try Amazon or Barnes and Noble.
The producers have said that the books they show are carefully selected and have meanings related to the show. John Steinbeck's stories always end with the main character losing his dreams and suffering for them, sometimes even dying because of them. With Josh Holloway's Sawyer such a popular character, I'm going to stubbornly go with the idea that Sawyer won't die.
Wee, sleeket, cowran, tim'rous beastie,
O, what panic's in thy breastie!
Thou need na start awa sae hasty,
Wi' bickering brattle!
I wad be laith to rin an' chase thee,
Wi' murd'ring pattle!
I'm truly sorry Man's dominion
Has broken Nature's social union,
An' justifies that ill opinion,
Which makes thee startle,
At me, thy poor, earth-born companion,
An' fellow-mortal!
I doubt na, whyles, but thou may thieve;
What then? poor beastie, thou maun live!
I'll get a blessin wi' the lave,
An' never miss't!
Thy wee-bit housie, too, in ruin!
It's silly wa's the win's are strewin!
An' naething, now, to big a new ane,
O' foggage green!
An' bleak December's winds ensuin,
Baith snell an' keen!
Thou saw the fields laid bare an' wast,
An' weary Winter comin fast,
An' cozie here, beneath the blast,
Thou thought to dwell,
Till crash! the cruel coulter past
Out thro' thy cell.
That wee-bit heap o' leaves an' stibble,
Has cost thee monie a weary nibble!
Now thou's turn'd out, for a' thy trouble,
But house or hald.
To thole the Winter's sleety dribble,
An' cranreuch cauld!
But Mousie, thou are no thy-lane,
In proving foresight may be vain:
The best laid schemes o' Mice an' Men,
Gang aft agley,
An' lea'e us nought but grief an' pain,
For promis'd joy!
Still, thou art blest, compar'd wi' me!
The present only toucheth thee:
But Och! I backward cast my e'e,
On prospects drear!
An' forward, tho' I canna see,
I guess an' fear!
--"To a Mouse" by Robert Burns
From the second to last stanza comes the title and the theme of the book "Of Mice and Men".
The best laid plans of mice and men
Often go astray
And leave us naught but grief and pain
For promised joy.
"Of Mice and Men" has two main characters: George, a small working-class man, and his friend Lennie, a very large, very strong, mildly retarded man. Lennie is kind, but doesn't know his own strength. He loves to pet soft things, like mice and rabbits, but often kills them accidentally. Early on in the book, we learn that George wants a farm, and on this farm, George tells Lennie they will raise rabbits for Lennie to tend.
George has dreams of rising above what he was born into. He doesn't want to be a laborer working for someone else all his life; he wants to be the farmer and hire the laborers. At a ranch where they are working, George and Lennie talk about their dream and other laborers want to come work for them. The dream begins to seem real
There is a character who hates Lennie, and by extension George, unreasonably (like Danny Pickett hates Sawyer), the laborers are often reminded that they are only laborers and not to look too high (as Sawyer is often reminded he is a conman and a blight on society), and, of course, the theme of loneliness and needing other people underlies much of the plot (Ben makes the point that Sawyer pushes Kate away even while it's obvious that he cares about her.)
Skip this next paragraph if you don't want to know the end of the book.
"Of Mice and Men" ends tragically. Lennie accidentally kills a woman and lynch mob goes looking for him. George finds Lennie where he's hiding, assures him that he's not mad at him, then kills Lennie himself, saving him from the mob. The mob arrives and only one person seems to realize what a difficult thing George has just done. George is as alone as Sawyer believes himself to be.
The inability of the characters to rise above their own lives echoes Sawyer's belief that he is what he is and it's too late to change.
Need more information on "Of Mice and Men" by John Steinbeck? Try Bookrags' "Of Mice and Men" page.
Want to read "Of Mice and Men"? Try Amazon or Barnes and Noble.
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