Who Moved My Cheese?

Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 1998

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Summary

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Introduction-Chapter 3

Key Figures

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

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Discussion Questions

Symbols & Motifs

Cheese

Cheese is what both the humans and the mice search for in the Maze. Cheese comes in two types. For the mice, it’s “the hard nibbling cheese they liked” (26). For humans, Cheese is always capitalized, and it’s “a metaphor for what we want to have in life, whether it is a job, a relationship, money, a big house, freedom, health, recognition, spiritual peace or even an activity like jogging or golf” (14). Both mice and humans at first search for and find their respective types of cheese, and both groups are happy. When their cheese disappears, the mice immediately search deeper in the Maze for more, while the humans spend days in shock, blaming other people for their loss, and refusing at first to face their fears and explore the Maze for more of their type of Cheese.

Cheese Station C

The first place in the Maze where both mice and humans find cheese is at Cheese Station C. There, they all enjoy their respective types of cheese, though the mice remain alert to changes at the station while the humans grow complacent. One day, the cheese there disappears for both groups—basically, it runs out—and the mice leave at once to find new cheese elsewhere, while the humans linger, wishing their Cheese hadn’t disappeared, searching for someone to blame, and fearing the future. The “C” in Cheese Station C can be thought of simply as short for “cheese.” The station represents the old ways that come to an end.

Cheese Station N

The mice search deeper in the Maze for cheese until they find a huge pile of it at Cheese Station N. (The “N” is short for “New cheese.”) The humans, meanwhile, are still back at Cheese Station C, mourning and complaining about the disappearance of their Cheese. Cheese Station N symbolizes the new opportunities and lifestyles that reward people who take action in the face of adversity.

Handwriting on the Wall

During his search for Cheese, Haw writes notes to himself on the walls of the Maze. These notes become guides, not only for him in the future, but for Hem, if he chooses to leave Cheese Station C and make his own search for Cheese. These notes become the Handwriting on the Wall. (Many of these notes are cited in the book summary under the section “Who Moved My Cheese?: The Story.”)

Maze

The Maze is where the two mice, Sniff and Scurry, and the two “Littlepeople,” Hem and Haw, live. Both groups search the Maze until they find cheese at Cheese Station C. When the cheese runs out there, Sniff and Scurry search more of the Maze and find a new stash of cheese, but only Haw overcomes his objections to the changing conditions and searches elsewhere in the Maze for more human Cheese. The Maze symbolizes life, or the places in life where people look for what they want. It’s a maze because finding good things can be puzzling, time-consuming, and sometimes frustrating, with wrong turns and backtracking; it takes effort.