Overanalysis essay

Within the world of princesses, pegasus races, magical unicorns, and colorful talking horses lie strong ideas that connect to Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, a story set within the tough world of the 1930s. Both tales are grounded in a profound exploration of friendship and what can happen to a person without it.

Surprisingly, Princess Luna and Princess Celestia share a relationship that is similar to the one of George and Lennie. Both relationships have a yin-yang element, with George being the brains and Lennie the brawns, and Celestia raising the sun and Luna raising the moon. The similarities run even deeper. Luna grew jealous of her older sister Celestia because, since the ponies of Equestria are diurnal, her work running the night was overlooked. Celestia received the admiration for ruling Equestria while Luna was left in the dark. Luna's bitter feelings turned her into the evil monster of Nightmare Moon. As Nightmare Moon, she tried to keep the world under an eternal night by refusing to lower the moon in an attempt to force appreciation for the night upon her subjects. Celestia was forced to banish her for a thousand moons with the Elements of Harmony, though she did so with heavy regret. And George also had to do the same to Lennie; when Lennie killed Curley's wife, George had no other choice than to kill him. He, too, rued his actions even though they were necessary, and both Celestia and George held regrets despite being praised as heroes for what they'd done.

Moondancer from My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic also relates to Crooks. Moondancer had been an antisocial student who focused on studies more than friends. Eventually, what few friends she had convinced her to give friendship a try, and Moondancer held herself a birthday party. However, the friend she counted on the most, Twilight, was too absorbed in her studies to attend. Deeply hurt, Moondancer gave up on friendship and isolated herself from the rest of the world. This is just like Crooks, who was rejected by everyone around him for being a black man. He yearns for friendship, or at least accompaniment, though he is denied these simple wishes. As a result of being pushed away, he pushes others away as well. He never allowed anyone into his room, and always yelled at people to get out. Even Candy, who had worked at the ranch for a long time, had never been inside of Crooks’s room. Both Crooks and Moondancer were hurt by a lack of friendship, and thus spurned the people (or ponies) around them.

The Elements of Harmony- which were mentioned before- are six elements that hold the magic of friendship- and a bonus on-demand friendship laser. This laser shares shocking comparisons to George and Lennie's dream. The friendship laser purified Nightmare Moon, reverting her to Princess Luna. George and Lennie’s dream, on the other hand, was to own a farm “an’ live off the fatta the lan’.” The talk of this dream is enough to convince Candy to join in, who had recently been hit hard by the death of his dog. The dream gives Candy something to live for again. And the dream also wakes up and warms Crooks, who was cold and hardened by isolation. Even Crooks, who originally yelled at Lennie to get out of his room, was entranced and offered to work at the dream farm for free. Therefore, it is clear how the friendship laser equates to the dream of owning of a farm, as both of which can win over and bring out the best in even the worst of people.

Finally, and definitely the most important relationship between Of Mice and Men and My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, is that there is a stable, which means horses, and horses are kind of like ponies, and ponies populate the world of Equestria.

With all these points considered, one can easily tell how a gritty, realistic story of the Great Depression stretches over to a show aimed at four-year-old girls about pastel ponies with tattoos on their butts.