Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH

The Rat Race is the perpetual climb toward nothing, and it is an important motif in the lives of the rats. Nicodemus describes it as “a race where, no matter how fast you run, you don’t get anywhere” (167), but for some reason one is inclined to keep trying anyway. Nicodemus and the other rats were placed into a literal rat race at the laboratory in which they were fooled into thinking that completing it would free them: “This was repeated over and over; yet each time I seemed to get a little closer to freedom” (111). They intuitively know that the maze is pointless, yet each time they are placed inside they continue to run it and hope a different outcome will result. Furthermore, because “there are people who just dislike rats, whether they’re doing any harm or not” (100), the rats feel as though no matter what they do or how smart they become, they will always be treated as subspecies. When the rats break free from the lab, they create a life, but it is still dependent on humans, and Nicodemus feels as though they still are not free of the cycle: “We’re just living on the edge of someone else’s [civilization], like fleas on a dog’s back.