One of the biggest complaints I’ve heard about a number
of anthropomorphic animal stories is that the animals are ‘not animal enough.’
It’s more a complaint about possible laziness than anything else, but it’s a
valid one. There are a surprising number of animal stories out there where one
could replace the animals with human beings and the story would almost be
identical.
Think of
something as celebrated as the Redwall series. Aside from the size differences
presented, there’s no real difference between the mice, shrews, or even the
badgers. Sure, badgers are presented as more fierce overall and prone to
bloodlust in battle, but their diets are the same and their individual animal
characteristics aren’t often used, if at all. I rarely remember a mention of
the mice using their claws or tails on a normal basis. In fact, the first book
was a rarity in this regard, as the primary villain was a rat who used his tail
as a whip.
Now
don’t get me wrong! The Redwall books still stand as pinnacles of anthro
literature and are something every writer of the genre should aspire to.
However, that homogenization of races is one of its weaker points. One of its
stronger points, however, and a related one, is that Redwall actually HAS races.
While
the lack of ‘animal’ factor is a point of contention among fans of
anthropomorphics, one habit that I feel gets overlooked too often is the lack
of racial variety in animal stories.
I think
we’ve all seen it before. How often does a story take place in a city of mice,
where mice are all of the sentient creatures and other animals are really just
slightly smarter versions of their wild selves? I can think of quite a few
Disney films that have done this, and a few books as well. One of my favorite
books, Duncton Hill, is one of the primary ones that come to mind. It’s a story
about a colony of moles and the trials that a particular generation of moles
experiences. While it’s wonderfully written and very thought-provoking,
everything that talks in the story is a mole. The characters travel across
their known world, traversing through woods, fields, and even cities, and they
meet no other sentient creatures. They DO come across other wild animals,
however. In particular, they live in absolute fear of the hawks, who hunt them
eagerly, but we never hear the hawks utter a word.
Mrs.
Frisby and the Rats of NIMH is another wonderful story that falls into this
category. Yes, the story involves rats and mice, but the only difference
discussed between them is their size. Even though shrews show up as well, they
aren’t presented any differently from the rats and mice. The only characters
that break the mold in the story are Jeremy the crow and the Great Owl, but
they’re only two individuals compared to entire races that are shown to be
sentient. The farmer’s cat, Dragon, is never shown to have any conversational
abilities, and the humans in the story can be understood by the animals, but
not the other way around.
This
problem of why certain races can communicate with one another and other races
cannot creates quite a logical disconnect, I think. It’s something, in these
stories, that is just never explained, and I think it’s best illustrated by
these animal worlds that we’re given which house only one kind of animal rather
than many. If the animals are all sentient, why aren’t mice, bears, and
raccoons all living together and solving problems together? If they can all
communicate, why do they have to be so separate? And if they cannot all
communicate, why does that difference exist? Is it a sign of writers humanizing
animals to replicate the problem we have of communicating with different animal
races, or is it a case of writers just replacing humans with mice or another
single race of beasts in a story for whatever reason?
Do you
readers think this is a problem, or is it something that I’m simply thinking
too deeply about when I should really just let my suspension of disbelief carry
me through?
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| See? There's totally more than just me here! And... uh... she's kidding? |
As a
side note about this, another one of my favorite books, The Sands of Time by
Michael Hoeye, lampshades this concept wonderfully. It’s part of a series of
books that takes place in a world of mice (and one or two squirrels), or so we
thought at the time. In this book, the concept of cats are brought up for the
first time. The mice of the world react with horror and disbelief, claiming
that all the history talking about these cats being in the world has been
falsely written, while their own history of mice accomplishing everything
important in the world is unquestionably true. No one even publically believes
that this other race of beings ever existed. It’s a great look at the concepts
of social history and belief while also being a fun read in general. Give it a
look if this topic interests you!
Until
next time, happy reading, all!
-Chammy
Currently reading:
Air Ferrets Aloft
by Richard Bach
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