Why is of mice and men called of mice and men?

why did the author call it that and what relevance does it have to the story.





I haven't seen the film but i have started the book and the reason for the title has been bugging me





please helpWhy is of mice and men called of mice and men?
John Steinbeck takes the title of this novella from the poem ';To a Mouse [on turning her up in her nest with the plough],'; written by Scottish poet Robert Burns in 1785. In the poem, the speaker has accidentally turned up a mouse鈥檚 nest with his plough, and takes the opportunity to wonder at man鈥檚 separation from the world of animals. Still, the speaker thinks both mice and men suffer from being mortal, so no matter how different ';thinking men'; and ';unthinking animals'; seem, they really aren鈥檛 that different after all 鈥?everybody suffers in the end. This thought isn鈥檛 too far off from what ends up happening to our ';thinking man'; (George) and his ';unthinking friend'; (Lennie).





Most critics talking about Steinbeck point you to the seventh verse of the poem:





But, Mousie, thou art no thy lane [alone]


In proving foresight may be vain:


The best-laid schemes o' mice an' men


Gang aft agley, [often go awry]


An' lea'e us nought [leave us nothing] but grief an' pain,


For promised joy.





The seventh stanza is relevant, but you鈥檝e got to read the whole poem to understand why it relates to Steinbeck鈥檚 novella. Actually, the last stanza of Burns鈥檚 poem is probably the most relevant to Steinbeck鈥檚 novella:





Still thou art blest, compar'd wi' me!


The present only toucheth thee:


But, och! I backward cast my e'e [eye]


On prospects drear! [dreary]


An' forward, tho' I canna [cannot] see


I guess an' fear!





In the above stanza, the speaker realizes the poor little animal is only touched by the present, as she can鈥檛 think about the past or the future. It鈥檚 the thinking man, who can look backwards and forwards, that suffers the most from the awful things he鈥檚 done. This last verse is a nice way to think of Lennie and George鈥檚 respective fate. Whatever happens to Lennie is done, but George is left to spend the rest of his future thinking of his past deeds.Why is of mice and men called of mice and men?
It is a reference to a famous saying taken from an old poem


[the title is taken from Robert Burns's poem, To a Mouse, which are often quoted as: ';The best-laid plans of mice and men/often go awry,'; though in the original Scots of the poem they read: ';The best laid schemes o' mice an' men/Gang aft agley.';]
the title is used to represent Lennie and his habits of breaking fragile objects/beings. whenever he has mice, he always ends up killing them by accident. After actually reading more of the book it will make more sense.
its after a quote by robert burnes or somebody


it goes something like '; the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry'; just like george and lenny's plan to get a farm, it didn't go like planned
It comes from the old scottish saying: ';The best layed plans of mice and men always go astray'; when you finish the book, you will understand.
It has Reference to the part where Lennie holds the mouse.
because lennie is an idiot