The Uniqueness of Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH
What would you
do if your home is in great danger but one of your children must stay behind or
face possible death? This situation is the exact dilemma Mrs. Frisby faces. Mrs.
Frisby, a widowed mouse, lives in a cinder block located on a farm with her 4
children. Her youngest child, known to always be the most fragile and yet most
curious among the family, has suddenly come down with a sickness. As the
seasons start to change, the farmland starts to become plowable, and because of
this, Mrs. Frisby’s home faces almost certain destruction. A solution would be
to just to move to another house, but this is not possible for Mrs. Frisby
because her child is far too sick to survive the cold trip. As Mrs. Frisby
struggles to search for solutions to her problem, she discovers a group of hyper
intelligent rats known as the rats of NIMH who may have a solution. Little does
she know, these rats would reveal to her a big secret about her deceased husband
and their source of intelligence.
I selected
this book on a last-minute search for books in my house. I thought it was a
children’s book, but I decided to go with it anyways because it earned a
Newbery medal and I could not find any other books nearby that interested me.
As I read the story, I realized that there are a couple elements that would
frighten a young reader, but teenagers can still enjoy. One part of the story I
enjoyed was the reveal of the rats’ origin. This section of the story is like a
mini-story that accommodates for approximately 25% of the book’s length. In the
reveal of the rats’ background, you can see elements such as minor mental
manipulation and young readers may have a hard time getting through these
parts. However, to a slightly older audience, these elements help make the
story feel less lame. The other parts of the story were also interesting, and
can intrigue children without causing fear, but the rats’ origin reveal is
probably my favorite part of the book.
The author also adds human-like emotions
to the characters. Each character talks and thinks like a human, but their
physical attributes are vastly different. This makes the characters a lot more
interesting than if they were nothing more than rats or humans. By combining animals
and human characteristics, we get a unique human-like view of their animal life.
For example, we know everything that the rat and mice think in detail and they
can communicate with each other clearly, whereas real rat and mice language is
nowhere near that advanced. In the sense that the rats and mice have human
characteristics, this book has some similarity to fantasy stories. The book also
shows the way humans typically act towards mice and rats from their
perspective. This way of conveying the animal’s emotions got me thinking about
how we would treat them if we knew what they genuinely felt. Most likely, we
would act less harsh towards them, such as letting them go freely and providing
small amounts of food and shelter.
Surprisingly, the rats of NIMH even
serve as good role models due to their helpfulness towards Mrs. Frisby and
their willingness to try to live a life without stealing. This is another benefit
from giving the rats and mice human characteristics. Children reading the book
can see how the rats try to act as nice as possible towards others and the children
can try to be like them. The rats also do everything by themselves, which is
another way they are a role model. The responsibility of the rats teaches readers
to be more independent and reduce the work of others. However, these benefits
are unlikely to affect teenagers as these themes are conveyed in a way that is
too child-like. But this means that children reading this book are still likely
to learn these lessons.
Overall, Mrs. Frisby and the rats of NIMH is a
good book. It has a unique story line that can intrigue both teenagers and children,
it won the Newbery award, and it is written well. I like the unique blend of animals
and humans and how the story revolves completely around their life in detail. The
story also got me thinking about related topics, such as the way we would treat
rats if we knew how they thought or how it would be if we found out rats were
suddenly intelligent. I would recommend this book for people who are looking
for something more light-hearted, as this is still a children’s book. However,
I still enjoyed reading the story due to some elements that really intrigued
me.
I enjoyed reading your blog about Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH and I thought it was particularly interesting the way that you discussed how books that may be intended for small children can still be interesting and have different meanings for older readers. I think I listened to the audiobook of this story with my younger siblings and I remember liking it even though I was older than the average audience.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed the descriptiveness of your blog and how you explained how the author gave the rats human-like characteristics. As well as that, I respect the way you described how it gave perspective to what their lives look like from their point of view. I also appreciate how you explained that the rats tried to be good role models, which gives depth to their character.
ReplyDeleteOne of my favorite parts about your blog is the beginning line. I think that it is a great attention getter and really attracts the reader into reading the rest of your blog. I also enjoyed the discussion on the "rat's origin". I think that it was done in a way that alluded to events in the story but didn't spoil anything, leaving me want to find out more. I am interested in reading this book myself, and I think that this was a great blog post!
ReplyDeleteYour article is very descriptive and has a very intriguing first line that makes the reader want to know more. I thought you made interesting points, which you supported well, such as how the book is intended for children, but can still be enjoyed by older audiences. You also pointed out how the rates acted like humans, allowing children to better relate to them, which is a really good observation.
ReplyDeleteI love how you zeroed in on particular elements of the book that you enjoyed, such as the rats' human-like emotions, and how they benefited the book. You also have a great hook. I also enjoyed how you talked about the themes in the book and backed it up with how the rats act.
ReplyDeleteI really liked your review as it was very descriptive and went into detail of how the author made the rats and mice seem like humans. You have a good attention grabber, and you make some interesting points, such as which audience the book is intended for and what can be learnt from reading it. I also like how you talked about the plot in a brief manner, but didn't give any spoilers or hard details, making your reader want to learn more about your book. Overall, I think that you did a solid job on your review.
ReplyDeleteI have read this book before and I think you did a great job describing the plot. Your perspective on how different ages can have have different understandings of the book, specifically the rats, is very interesting. Based off your blog, I think I should go back and read this book again to see if my perspective about the book has changed. You did a really good job on this blog post!
ReplyDeleteI thought you made a great point on why this book may be suspenseful to read, without divulging any spoilers. Your blog had me wondering how Mrs. Frisby is going to protect her sickly child when they flee their home. The fact that this book has simple morals (e.g., scavengers trying to live a life without stealing) makes this book seem like it would be great for children and people trying to navigate difficult decisions without compromising their principles. My favorite part of the blog was when you mentioned that the author's choice to make the rats anthropomorphic causes the reader to sympathize with them and want to treat them well. Because this book has multiple subplots, I am intrigued to find out how they intertwine as the story plays out.
ReplyDelete