The poem “To a Mouse” by Robert Burns clearly reflects the naturalistic themes in John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men. Three naturalistic themes portrayed in both these pieces of literature are: The struggle against forces beyond human control, Individuals’ lives and characters governed and determined by impersonal natural laws and forces such as social conditions and the environment, and Death as a natural; survival of the fittest. Using naturalistic themes in literature implies a philosophical perspective to the reader.
The first theme is the struggle against forces beyond human control. This theme is shown in both of these pieces of literature in situations where the characters or in the poems’ case, the mouse, had plans that they hoped they could attain. In the poem it is said that, “The best laid schemes o’ Mice an’ Men / Gang aft agley”( l 39-40). These lines show how even though they had plans for the future that they were looking forward to, things don't always go the way you expect. In the book, George and Lennie aspire to…show more content… This is certainly true in the poem as demonstrated in the fourth verse, “An’ bleak December’s winds ensuin / Baugh snell an’ keen!”( l 23-24). Survival of the fittest relates to these line because the man knows that since he accidently knocked down the house the mouse can’t survive. Winter is coming soon and the mouse won't be able to find supplies and build a house before it's too late, so she will die because she is weak and powerless. Likewise, the characters in Of Mice and Men are subjected to the same forces. For instance, Lennie dies because he is not able to adapt to the society's ways and keeps getting in trouble, “‘I done a real bad thing… I shouldn't of did that’”(Steinbeck 92). The mouse and Lennie are weaker characters as they aren't strong enough to survive on their own so they have to die since survival of the fittest doesn't allow them to
