It’s a risk you take when you marry an academic – having worrying conversations over dinner.
I married an anthropologist. But it doesn’t really matter what his discipline is, as far as chit-chat is concerned. Because his daily toil exposes him to such a range of interesting research that you never know what the day’s topic will be.
For example, animal behaviourism.
The other night I cooked a mild, fruity chicken curry. I finished mine well before the anthropologist. He was too busy talking to eat.
A presentation that afternoon, on rat research, had made a deep impression.
The rats, he explained, were being put through various exercises, involving food, to explore their willingness to share and cooperate.
The rodents soon learned that they could obtain more food, not just for themselves, but also for their ratty friends, by pulling a lever. So they did. Cooperative behaviour was displayed.
In the first exercise the rats could all see each other.
The next step was to put up barriers so they couldn’t see each other but could hear and smell each other. And yes, they still helped each other feed their ratty faces.
Next, they circulated the air so they couldn’t smell each other.
Tan-tan-tara!
The rats stopped cooperating.
At this point I was plainly supposed to say, ‘hmmm, that’s interesting’. Which I did. Then I added, ‘did the air being sucked out make a lot of noise?’
But what I should have asked – and what, because of the title, some of you might be asking – is, were the rats representative of both genders?
And the triumphant response would have been: no!
They were all female.
The next step, therefore, was to start testing male rats.
Well. Guess what?
Male rats are selfish.
Male rats don’t seem to want or need allies.
I suppose I wasn’t surprised but the thought began to worry me.
Because rodents – mostly it’s mice and rats – react like humans in many, many ways. Which is why they are so widely used for research.
If you follow the logic, then, this male rat behaviour might suggest that men don’t feel the need for networks of cooperation. For friends even.
Our dinner table discussion moved on to more familiar anthropological ground. With worrying examples of how in societies, as they become larger – too large for hunter-gather style group scrutiny to work – males can become more individualistic, uncooperative and … aggressive.
And yesterday, as I thought further about this analogy between rats and men some unwelcome images came to mind.
As if on cue a sinister cartoon appeared in one of our popular daily newspapers. A nasty portrayal of refugees (some obviously Muslim) flooding into Europe, with rats scurrying between their feet.
The ‘Twittersphere’ went ballistic (yes, the military-industrial-complex reference is intentional).
Old copies of cartoons from Nazi era Germany were resurrected and pictured side-by-side with the new cartoon. A comment from a 1930s edition of the same paper was circulated, revealing that its xenophobic editorial attitudes had remained horribly consistent.
And I thought about a book I studied for a French exam at school: La Peste, (The Plague), by Albert Camus. A French book, set in France’s former colony, Algeria, written by a Frenchman born in Algeria.
The novel revolves around an epidemic of plague that invades the town of Oran in north Africa, carried by rats. It studies the effects of fear and isolation – quarantine – on the community.
It could hardly be more relevant today.
Rats.
The foreigner, the other.
There seems to have been a perennial equation of rats with evil – with invasions, disease, disgust, fear, loathing.
But the images used in the cartoons depict hordes. And I thought back to the early findings of that research on male rats. They did not cooperate. Male rats did not, so to speak, need friends.
At which point, I’m afraid, a song popped into my head.
Do you remember a song called ‘Ben’ by Michael Jackson?
It’s a slushy, sentimental ballad and very, very odd.
I suspect I’m not the only one who wasn’t aware, on first hearing the song, that it was rat-related. Yes, the Ben to whom Jackson croons is a rat. A rat in a horror film.
Some of the words are quite unsettling.*
One line reminds me of a chilling moment in the film Cabaret, set in Germany in the last days of the Weimar Republic, as the Nazi party flexes its growing muscles. The creepy Emcee, played brilliantly by Joel Grey, stage-whispers about his gorilla girlfriend, ‘she doesn’t look Jewish at all’.
I’m mortified to admit that when I first saw the film I missed that line completely. Though, of course, the film stood without it. But now, as I think about it, it sends a shiver down my spine. Because, while it is always relevant, people forget. And now, we would do well to remember.
Among the anxious Western Europeans worrying about terrorists, some would have us believe ‘Muslims’ are all something other, something not like us.
That cartoon with the rats may have been intended to awaken those historical fears in a good way. To remind us that fear makes us do bad things. Or simply to associate evil terrorists with rats. I hope so.
But some will not see it that way. And it’s frightening to see the extremes to which some people will go.
Refugees are people.
Muslims are people.
We are one race, all of us, all people.
And, yes, there will always be bad people.
But if we isolate ourselves, like those rats in that experiment, it becomes only too easy to ignore others. To believe they are different. Even to envisage – or desire – the extermination of the other. Like rats.
I’m a lousy historian, but there are some lessons I never will forget.
*Read the lyrics here: http://www.metrolyrics.com/ben-lyrics-michael-jackson.html or listen to a poignant Oscars performance by Michael Jackson here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1dAQN5QcZU
MEMOIRS OF A HUSK 
“…had made a deep impression.”
On more than one of you, apparently…
Nice piece 🙂
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Yes it did. And thank you kindly. Hope you’re OK. Have you read any Camus?
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Read Camus. Remember Ben and Cabaret – and studied rats/behavior sciences. See the thing is you actually know history, geography, science, as it relates to people. Rare these days. Without facts and knowledge, all that remains is emotion and knee jerk reactions. People easily lead and mislead.
People are people – positive and negative ones in all groups.
We can hope all come to their senses like RIchard the Lionhearted and Saladin, but the world is much smaller now with the internet, You Tube, and such.More complex now that it’s harder for everyone to agree to disagree and still get along – go to their corners and coexist. But, rats, we can hope.
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I was hesitant about this – it’s a bit of a stretch beyond my real field of knowledge – all the stuff about rats being just reported speech. But it felt as if it was right for the moment. Yes, you’re right, it’s odd, isn’t it, that having so many ways to communicate – to be communities – seems to be making the world more fractured not less so. It’s also timely, what you said about reactions. I was walking upstairs feeling dejected about the world yesterday and it came to me in a road-to-Damascus kind of moment – there’s no point whatsoever in feeling about things if you don’t do something, even if it’s only to write! May as well stop paying attention. Thanks, Ms Mouse, for reading and more especially for commenting – and not finding fault with my rat anaylsis (phew!).
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Well done.
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so, what if there was a decent mix of males and females in the test together? I guess the female mice will shame the bad guys into doing the right thing, what do you think? That’s how it works in my funny little world anyway… lol! I really enjoyed your rat analysis, and as it is particularly relevant to me as a Muslim, I also appreciated it very much. The US is on a prolonged trajectory, clearly evident to anyone tracking it… pass the popcorn and keep your eye on Sinai. I guess the future won’t be pretty, but pretty disgusting from all angles, especially historical.
Hope you’ve recovered completely, dear friend – sorry I haven’t caught up with you in quite a while!
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How good to hear from you Aisha – I was relieved when I saw your sad but beautiful post about the potter, I wondered what was happening to you. I am fine, now, thank you. You have put your finger on a very good point – I think that is exactly what happens in smaller groups especially – as seen in hunter-gatherer world (and some marriages??!). It’s so worrying. what’s happening, and must be especially so for you – so many people are unwilling or unable to differentiate between ‘ordinary’ Muslims and extremists. I hope you are safe and happy where you are and look forward to reading more when you feel inspired!
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Thanks, dear friend! I’m very happy to hear you are fine now. Life is crazy everywhere, isn’t it – we’re pretty used to being the scapegoats du jour, but I hate it when I hear of more troubles like this… just prolonging the aggravation. Hope you are happy – enjoy your weekend! ❤ ❤ ❤
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Excellent post 🙂 I believe that rather than generically being labeled as refugees, asylum seekers… finally there is going to be an official shift to the term people seeking asylum. A start at least. While I think generational disconnect from the past beleaguers our current situation, regardless of the reasoning juxtaposition of people seeking asylum or any nationality or faith with the negative cultural depiction of rats is unhelpful. While the analogy might have seemed pertinent to remind… or inform those without historical reference… of the wages of hate, a fresh and relevant approach while requiring more creativity and effort would be welcome and more appropriate.
I’m no fan of rats… but it’s reassuring to know some have redeeming features. I like to think as a species we do as well. And that our good will out. And maybe as Aisha comments, leading by example is one of those ways.
Ben… that song was always creepy.
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Thanks Dee. People seeking asylum, yes, very good point, I like it and will use it henceforward. I hadn’t heard this yet but it works in a subtle but signficant way. I have always believed that good will triumph – but it is simply depressing seeing how ready people are to jump on hate bandwagons at the slightest provocation. When confronted in real life by the genuine ‘other’ they often crumble, but we can’t actually go round forcing people to meet and talk with others. Here, for example, it is often the ‘whitest’ areas that are most likely to vote for racist-inclined politicians. I’m particularly saddened at the moment seeing the majority of our press and broadcast media going along with the warbringers, not even covering research that suggests the majority of people agree with the peacemakers … Hope. Not Hate.
Ben – totally agree – always was really creepy! Hope I haven’t planted it in your head … I keep hearing it now.
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Memories fade very fast. It seems that every generation needs to learn these lessons afresh.
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Yet we’ve had all these commemorationsof the two world wars. The horrors never end. As the Pope recently said, ‘Jesus wept’ and it’s all about money.
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