Cole Killen
Zayn
Advanced Lit Comp 2p.27 September 2012
Literary Analysis of Seven Blind Mice
Seven Blind Mice is a children’s book by Ed Young in third person point of view, and it is based on a poem entitled “The Blind Men and the Elephant” by John Godfrey Saxe. Seven different colored mice discover a new mysterious “Something” at their pond, and they all take turns to look at it. Ed Young uses symbolism to explain why each mouse sees something different at the pond.
Seven blind mice venture out to their pond and discover a “Something” at their pond. Each day a different color mouse visits the “Something.” Different mice see different objects, but when white mouse visits the “Something,” she looks at the whole thing and sees an elephant. Once white mouse finds out what the “Something” is, she tells the rest of the mice about the elephant. Often animals in literature represent humans. Symbolically, “blind” means a closed-minded person and pond means life, so the story may be about something new coming in to the lives of seven closed-minded people. One woman who has all of the personalities looks at the whole thing to solve the problem.
On Monday, red mouse is the first one to touch part of the “Something.” Red mouse sees a large pillar, so he tells the rest of the mice what he sees. Symbolically “red” means anger, and this may mean that red mouse’s dominant personality trait is anger. This could be why red mouse stomps out first on Monday because angry people tend to rush in to things. Since red mouse sees a pillar, this may represent an obstacle that he has to face. Following red mouse is green mouse that arrives on Tuesday. When he touches the “Something” he sees a snake. Green mouse may have been jealous of red mouse for going first. This may be why he went second, and in literature, “green” often represents envy. Also, envy is one of the seven deadly sins, so this could be why he sees a deadly snake.
After the green mouse walks down to the pond, yellow mouse ventures down to it the next day. Yellow mouse looks at the “Something” and sees a spear. “Yellow” symbolizes a coward in literature. This may be why he found the most dangerous part of the “Something.” After green mouse saw a snake, yellow mouse may have been scared to visit the “Something.”
Purple mouse visits the “Something” on Thursday. Purple mouse sees a cliff that he stands on when he visits the “Something.” In literature, “purple” symbolizes royalty. This could be why purple mouse sees a cliff because it may represent that he is watching over his citizens. Since purple mouse arrives on Thursday, this may mean purple mouse does not care when he arrives because he is royal.
When Friday arrives, orange mouse touches the “Something.” Orange mouse concludes that the “Something” is a fan. Since “orange” in literature means happy, orange mouse may have a happy personality.