In the fantasy Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH, I was especially interested in not only the message conveyed about mothers but also the overall message concerning the female role. I was first struck by the drive that Mrs. Frisby possessed as a mother to make so many sacrafices and risks to save one of her children, all the while keeping calmness about her for her children’s sake. I thought it was a positive message that she was willing to go to these measures to save just one of her children and refused to accept the idea of stranding him. We discussed in class how Mrs. Frisby’s lack of personal identification suggests the dependence of women on their husbands as she is always referred to as Mrs. Frisby or Jonathan’s husband and never given a name. It is also notable that any help she gets is earned through her husband’s previous relations, none on her own. Despite the impressive measures that she travels, the owl and the rats are only convinced to offer their serious attention when they learn of her husband. In addition, the fact that Jonathan had hidden a huge secret of his life and his superiority in knowledge and physicality from Mrs. Frisby indicates a furthering of the idea of male dominance.
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