The common idiom “The early bird gets the worm” is often quoted to suggest that one should seize every opportunity in life; however, this is only one way to go about life. It is not applicable to every situation. In the saying “The early bird may get the worm, but it is the second mouse who gets the cheese,” Wright is implying that people shouldn’t immediately jump to one approach, but should learn from the failures of others before starting their own endeavors. An extended metaphor is used to support the logic behind the quote. The contrast made between the “early bird” and the “second mouse” is meant to portray different types of people and situations. The bird represents a person who took the first blind leap and made the first mistakes. The mouse is a symbol of a person who learned from the failures of the “first mouse” and thus was able to succeed. Wright is suggesting that different wisdom is relevant and useful to different people in different situations. If one finds oneself in the scenario of the “early bird,” then sometimes he/she must take risks and make mistakes to be the first in a field. On the other hand, if one is in the situation of the “second mouse,” someone who is not carrying out the first attempt, then it is wise to learn from the mistakes that have already been made. Wright’s …show more content…
This is a flawed interpretation of the quote because of the way that Wright set up the saying. His inclusion of the phrase “the early bird may get the worm…” to preface the quote, followed by his new spin on it, means that he doesn’t consider “early birds” in a negative light. He considers the advice that one should take risks and act early to be relevant, but only in specific