Steinbeck borrowed the title for his 1936 novella ‘Of Mice and Men’ from the 18th century Scottish poet Robert Burns, whose poem ‘To a Mouse,’ depicts the destruction of a little mouse’s house at the hands of a farmer’s plough.
‘The best laid schemes of Mice and Men go oft’ awry/ and leave us naught for grief instead of promised joy.’
‘Of Mice and Men’ is a story of friendship and hope; land and freedom. Each character doggedly pursues their individual version of the American Dream, however Steinbeck was not a writer to romanticise the reality of the injustices he witnessed first hand.
Steinbeck’s work document the ruined lives of thousands of migrant workers who travelled to California from the southern states in search of a better life, following the economic depression of ‘29 and the agricultural destruction of the Great Dust Bowl, which left many families destitute.
Of Mice and Men Programme