"The best-laid schemes o' mice an' men

Gang aft agley"

-Robert Burns

I read John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men during the summer, and am now studying it for my English literature course. This is the first time I'm re-reading a book for the explicit purpose of literary analysis.

We've been reading the book in class aloud, and are extremely close to finishing it (about 10 pages to go!). Because of my Southern accent, I've been chosen to read during every class... I've been reading the voices of George, Crooks and even Curley's wife. 

 It truly is unbelievable how many scenes in the novel hint at its ending, scenes that I missed the first time around. Compared to other novels we've read in our English courses, the ending of Of Mice and Men is actually surprising for readers. If you look at Macbeth, the prophecies tell exactly what's going to happen and the entire premise of Jane Eyre is essentially her falling for Mr. Rochester. On the other hand, in Of Mice and Men only a handful of pieces of dialogue give an idea as to the ending. And of course then there's the poem by Robert Burns, where the title of the novel is derived from which clearly indicates the trajectory of the events.

Happy reading!

-Laura