Analysis of "Rat Song", by Margaret Atwood
Rat Song
Introduction
”Rat Song” is a poem written by Margaret Atwood and is part of Selected Poems from 1976. What is interesting about the poem is that it is written from the point of view of a rat. And by looking through the eyes of a rat (which many people see as a primitive and inferior animal) the poem shows how judgemental, hateful, hypocritical and “unnatural” the human race is. The poem furthermore advocates that humans are a much greater parasite than the rats they are so desperately trying to get rid of.
How the rat is viewed by the human
The first theme this analysis would like to discuss is how the rat is viewed by the human in the poem. It is clear from the very beginning of the poem that the human described is not too fond of the rat. Just be looking at the first two stanzas it is obvious that the human is trying to get rid of the rat (Atwood 1976, lines 1-7). What is interesting here is that the rat does not understand why the human wants to kill it. The rat can see no apparent motivation for the human to kill it, and it states that: “All I want is love, you stupid / humanist” (Atwood 1976, lines 14-15). I think what Margaret Atwood is trying to say here is that all animals and creatures deserve to be respected equally. Why are cats and dogs for example friends of humanity, when rats and other animals are seen as enemies? Historically, rats have a tradition of being bearers of diseases (and this is also mentioned in the poems fourth stanza), but as an example dogs have also been heavily associated with diseases in the past, so why choose one over the other? I believe Margaret Atwood’s point here is that the human race is very selective and hypocritical, and this is represented by the unfairness showed to the rat in the poem.
All the different ways the human is trying to kill the rat, shows how merciless and brutal the human nature is. First it is a rifle, then it is flashlight, and then later on poison (Atwood 1976, lines 2, 3, 5). It is
Introduction
”Rat Song” is a poem written by Margaret Atwood and is part of Selected Poems from 1976. What is interesting about the poem is that it is written from the point of view of a rat. And by looking through the eyes of a rat (which many people see as a primitive and inferior animal) the poem shows how judgemental, hateful, hypocritical and “unnatural” the human race is. The poem furthermore advocates that humans are a much greater parasite than the rats they are so desperately trying to get rid of.
How the rat is viewed by the human
The first theme this analysis would like to discuss is how the rat is viewed by the human in the poem. It is clear from the very beginning of the poem that the human described is not too fond of the rat. Just be looking at the first two stanzas it is obvious that the human is trying to get rid of the rat (Atwood 1976, lines 1-7). What is interesting here is that the rat does not understand why the human wants to kill it. The rat can see no apparent motivation for the human to kill it, and it states that: “All I want is love, you stupid / humanist” (Atwood 1976, lines 14-15). I think what Margaret Atwood is trying to say here is that all animals and creatures deserve to be respected equally. Why are cats and dogs for example friends of humanity, when rats and other animals are seen as enemies? Historically, rats have a tradition of being bearers of diseases (and this is also mentioned in the poems fourth stanza), but as an example dogs have also been heavily associated with diseases in the past, so why choose one over the other? I believe Margaret Atwood’s point here is that the human race is very selective and hypocritical, and this is represented by the unfairness showed to the rat in the poem.
All the different ways the human is trying to kill the rat, shows how merciless and brutal the human nature is. First it is a rifle, then it is flashlight, and then later on poison (Atwood 1976, lines 2, 3, 5). It is