Character study: Mrs. Frisby

My daughter and I recently read Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH. The book is much less magical than the movie (The Secret of NIMH) but still the wonders that unfold are vast.

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But what really made me think was Mrs. Frisby is a wonderful protagonist. And if you say, “who should be the protagonist? A super-intelligent rat who is working to create an entirely new colony of rats based on learning and science, not based on stealing…. or a regularly-intelligent widowed field mouse whose main problem is her son is too sick to move to their summer home before the plow comes?” Most people would want to know the rat’s story. And yet we get the world told from Mrs. Frisby’s POV, and it is wonderful.

Why do this? This is telling the story from Jimmy Olsen’s point of view, or a dock worker on Babylon 5, or a king’s jester. The exciting and powerful person is not the focus of the story. There are many reasons to do this:

1. If we see Superman, the modified rats, a commanding officer, what have you, from another’s eyes, they look even more magical and mystical. If we had learned about the rats and their colony from the eyes of someone who knew what was going on, there would be a tinge of familiarity with it, even if we’re seeing these wonders for the first time. When we see them from the POV of the Frisby character, they can be wondrous, mysterious, and difficult to figure out. Even if the story is about the higher-powered being, we’ll often see something grand from the POV of someone lesser, so their reaction can let us know how MINDBOGGLINGLY COOL this is.
2. We can relate to Mrs. Frisby. Yes, a Plan to Beat the Scientists and Create a Grand New Civilization is certainly a noble goal, but I gotta tell you, I can certainly relate to the anguish that comes from nursing a sick child. The inevitable march of time, weather, and the farmer and his plow are problems we can understand. Love, jealousy, fear, these are base emotions that the reader can latch onto and identify with. And sure, a king or a general can feel these things (and should,) but their problems are still so much bigger, they will likely be forced to delegate the care of their family so they can lead the army.
3. You know the old adage, keep them wanting more? I can remember books better when they leave me wanting more. I keep thinking, once I close the book, “So what happened here? What was the story behind that?” This is what spurs fanfic. This is what keeps people talking about books, and writing about books, and rereading books to find out what they missed. Tying everything up in a neat little bow is satisfying, don’t get me wrong. We close the book and we’re done with that story. But then it starts to sift from our mind. The Hunger Games stayed with me for months, while Mockingjay is already being filed away. Not saying leave things on a cliff hanger, but with Mrs. Frisby, we don’t know the fate of several of the characters once the climax is done, as the rats are gone. I was frustrated at first, but then it left me thinking about it. Wondering if there was a sequel. (There are two, written by the author’s daughter, but I haven’t read them, and don’t know if the fates of the rats are revealed.)

You might think the super intelligent person, or the superhero, or the genetically modified mutant, or the queen, or the general, are good protagonists, and they may very well be, but think about the Every(wo)man, the small person who gets caught up in the ripples of the big strong character and has to find their way through it.