Refer to Explorations in Literature for a complete version of this poem. How do the mice serve as a symbol in "My Father's Song" by Simon Ortiz? They represent the next generation of children and suggest the need for protection. They represent an infestation of problems and suggest the need for solutions. They represent new life and suggest the hope that accompanies all beginnings. They represent hidden beauty and suggest the need to seek it out.

In "My Father's Song" by Simon Ortiz, the mice serve as a symbol for the next generation of children. The option "They represent the next generation of children and suggest the need for protection." is the correct option.

The answer is clear from the following lines of the poem:

"Very gently, he scooped tiny pink animals

into the palm of his hand

and told me to touch them.

We took them to the edge

of the field and put them in the shade

of a sand moist clod."

They represent the next generation of children and suggest the need for protection.