Hey seniors:
Read through the poem Rat Song and give some refelction to not only your take on the poem as it relates to nature but what do you think Atwood is saying about nature? Feel free to comment on each other's postings and we'll continue in tomorrow's class.http://www.poetryfoundation.org/archive/poem.html?id=21984
I believe that this poem by Margaret Atwood, "Rat Song", is directly from a rat’s point of view on how humans view them as malicious and hideous creatures, and how they deserve better treatment as they cannot change how they scavenge for shelter or food, much less their physical appearance. Atwood’s main message is a generalization about nature, and mostly the animals that have a negative stigma attached to them through Western culture: humans believe they are superior to other creatures and thus despise them, but these creatures are genuinely looking for an affection they rarely receive from humans. This message is apparent when the narrator claims about humans, “ I live off your
ReplyDeleteLeavings…
I take without asking
and make nests in your cupboards…You’d do the same if you could” and “All I want is love, you stupid
humanist.” Atwood’s overall message, likely influenced by her father’s career as an entomologist, is that all creatures deserved to be loved and equally respected, because their intention is not to harm humanity, although the opposite, as shown in the poem, is sometimes the sad truth.
In this poem, Atwood describes the conflict between a rat and a human living under the same roof. The human tries to exterminate the rat, a 'parasite', using various methods such as a gun and rat poison. The human shows a general lack of appreciation for the rat's good qualities such as its fur, "pretty teeth", and singing ability.
ReplyDeleteAs for the meaning behind Atwood's poem, I submit that Atwood is commenting on people's lack of respect for nature and the hypocrisy of their views in regards to the parasitic attributes of animals. Atwood communicates this message through the point of view and harsh, critical diction. By writing from the rat's point of view, , she is allowing the reader to relate to the rat and to evaluate the situation with a different set of values, those of the rat, in mind. For example, the rat narrates, "All I want is love..." This desire, usually associated with humans, shows the reader that the rat is not unlike people. However, the human in the poem continues to pursue the rat, unable to recognize and appreciate its emotions.
Second, Atwood employs critical diction to relay a moral judgment about human hypocrisy and disrespect. In the third stanza, the rat labels the person a "stupid humanist." This label categorizes people as human-centric and selfish. It has the same negative connotation that 'racist' or 'sexist' have and opens the reader up to the idea that humanists are morally on par with racists and sexists. The rat also comments, in reference to its so-called parasitic behaviors, that "You'd do the same if you could." The rat's statement is Atwood's way of communicating the contradictions in people's view of nature. While humans criticize rats for taking things without asking and living off of others, they do the same thing and even, in fact, to the rats.
Atwood’s “Rat’s Song” is written from a rat’s perspective to critique the (1974’s) human response to nature. The rat, or nature, is accusing the human housekeeper, and to an extent most of humanity, of being hypocritical. “You stupid/humanist,” conveys exactly how critically the rat views human activity. A humanist is a person that believes people can live on their intelligence and reason without any outside (religious/ supernatural) help. By calling a humanist stupid, the rat is saying that there is something flawed within the belief system of humans; that the housekeeper needs to revaluate how (s)he sees the world. By the so-called “parasite” being able to outsmart humans, in more than one instance, and having the humanist call something it views as lower than her/his-self “clever”, nature places itself above inconsistent human-developed philosophies. The rat even goes as far as to state that, “You’d do the same if you could,” thereby directly stating that humans in general are unhappy with their lot in live and if they could put aside their mentalities would be a happier with a rat’s life. Furthermore even with all the housekeeper has done to hurt the rat, it wants “my mate” back in the voice of the housekeeper. Demonstrating nature’s desire to have humans co-exist despite all of the actions humans have taken “to drown” out the voice of environmentalism and the idea of living at peace with nature. In the rat’s (nature’s) eyes the housekeeper (humanity) has become hypocritical as every word ‘spoken’ seems to contradict the actions taken by the person, while all nature seems to want is love and to co-exist peacefully.
ReplyDeleteThe poem "Rat Song" is told from a rat's point of view and is a way for Atwood to indirectly comment on people's disregard for animals. The overall tone of the passage is hateful, as the rat is commenting on the selfish concerns of humans. In a way, irony is presented in the passage in the fourth stanza, where the rat mentions that she is a parasite. This is ironic in that humans often "take without asking" from other animals (their habitats/etc), and since humans are the superior beings, they are justified in this, yet the rat is merely doing what humans are doing to other living beings.
ReplyDeleteThe "Rat Song" shows man kind's disregard to other living beings, and man's desensitization of killing other life forms.
While “Rat Song” may indeed be addressing the tendency of mankind to abuse and ignore nature, I think that this poem is more a metaphoric approach to women’s rights. It appears to me that the rat is in a sense an aspiring female attempting to breach the male dominated public scene, and in return, the males regard this new, assertive woman with apprehension. This is demonstrated by the thoughts “That one’s too clever, she’s dangerous”, and the tenacious efforts to eliminate this new voice through poison, symbolic of an attempt to corrupt the message of women’s liberation, and the rifle, symbolic of a strong degree of resistance. In addition, the fact that this female is portrayed as a rat, with “my fur and pretty teeth and my six nipples and snake tail”, demonstrates that these women were regarded as pests to society, not as equal individuals. Hence, the men aimed for the “brain” of this woman/rat in an attempt to eradicate the very source of this new movement and the threat to convention that it entailed, but opponents “always miss”. This failure to kill the rat is symbolic of the fact that a desire for freedom cannot be suppressed once the ideal has been released into the hearts of an oppressed people.
ReplyDeleteAtwood also portrays the rat as living off of “your leavings, gristle and rancid fat”, demonstrating that women without rights are living on the fringes of society. They experience the power of male representation around them, but they are limited to the “leftovers” of the table, or in this poem, the cold gristle off a filet mignon. Furthermore, the comment that rats “make nests in your cupboards out of your suits and underwear” could be interpreted as women creating homes out of the earnings of their husbands, who are within the professional (or business) realm. Yet these women are incapable of generating their own income in the shadow of their husbands, limiting their independence to the hospitality of their host.
(sorry, this part wouldn't fit in the last post :))
ReplyDeleteThe last stanza laments the fact that men ignore the power of liberty that resonates from their throats as they are given a voice in public affairs. The transcendent and conceptual nature of equality is drowned in a “greasy person voice”, as men attempt to rationalize the inferiority of women and prevent them from partaking in all walks of life. Hence, the “mate trapped in your throat” could be metaphorically the concept of liberty, which women desire to share and are constantly aware of like a quiet background melody. The poem begins with the rat attempting to sing, and ends with liberty singing in the voice of the rat-hunter, demonstrating an ineluctable march towards equality.
I agree with the other responses that this song is not only a story about an abused rat, but also is Margaret Atwood’s criticisim on humankind’s lack of respect for animals, hypocrisy in their hatred for nature, and superiority complex when dealing with other living creatures.
ReplyDeleteThe two instances that tell this song apart from one just about a rat and one about nature are in stanza three and stanza five. In stanza three, the rat says “All I want is love, you stupid humanist. See if you can.” The rats challenge is directed toward all humans, in that they are inherently biased in their views towards other animals: humans would put a human’s life before an animal’s. The other instance is seen in the fifth stanza is seen when the rat says “It’s your throat I want, my mate trapped in your throat”, showing that the rat is not only considering his own species, but that of other animals because humans do not usually eat rat meat, and this section seems to consider the fact that humans eat animals and thus do not respect them.
I would also like to comment on the poem’s structure and mood it sets. The title of the poem, “Rat Song”, and the fact that the rat is “singing” brought to me in my mind an imagination of a rat singing and running from a human, treating the human as a rather stupid ogre-like being. The rat is characterized as “clever” and “dangerous”. In addition to this, the rat is bold and defiant, “pissing” on the poison, “making nests…in your suits and underwear”. The rat also seems to be very compassionate, looking out both for other rats who might be killed by poison, and “mates” of other animals “trapped in [a human’s] throat”. These characteristics give the rat a powerful, mature personality that befits the grave song. Also, the poem is structured so it begins with “When you hear me singing”, the human tries to kill the rat, but fails, and at ends with “Though you try to drown him…I can hear him singing”. Both speak of the rat and nature’s resilience, which is telling the humans who listen to the rat sing that nature does not need humankind’s sympathy. Even in the middle of the poem: “All I want is love”, the rat says this in a mocking tone, calling us “stupid” and jumping right to conclusion that “Right, I’m a parasite”, suggesting a sort of “Right, you can’t show me love because to you I’m a parasite”.
The statement about nature that this poem makes is that even though some animals are small or usually considered disgusting by human standards, they should still be regarded in the same way as every other living creature, which for Atwood would mean with respect. Even though rats probably aren't the first thing many people think of when they think of nature, they are still animals just trying to survive in a time and place where humans have taken over everything they need to survive. They are just doing what all other animals - including humans - are doing, which is trying to survive, but they have to face a world where they are seen as "parasites". Atwood's statement about nature in this poem is that humans don't have the right to treat rats the way they do because, for all humans know, rats could be just as aware of the world and even, as the poem suggests, want to find love just as humans want to. Atwood is probably also commenting on the fact that humans shouldn't feel like they have the right to call rats parasites, because humans are essentially doing the same things to the world that rats are doing to humans - taking things without asking, as the poem says. Atwood's overall statement about nature in this poem is that there is more in this world than just humans' standards and views on nature, and all animals should be treated well even if they are as demonized as the rat.
ReplyDeleteGet Ready! Get Ready! The Worr-uld is coming to an end!...
ReplyDeletePests are enemies regardless of their necessity to survive or so that is what the majority of humanity may think. In "Rat Song" Margaret Atwood focuses on the perspective of a rat and through the first person the severity of the human aggression is truly shown. Humans tend be disapproving of unwanted animals because of their over-superior mentality. Regarding the first seven lines of "Rat Song" its focus is the deterioration of nature through means of destruction seen in the rifle, the flashlight, and the poison. The rat's determination can be identified through it's cleverness and desperation to live.
Margaret Atwood even though utilizes a more literal poem to express the degradation of nature in society, there is a focus on human hostility on anything misunderstood or unknown. Due to this fear there will a lack of peace in society, but there will always be conflict and action to fuel more critical commentaries such as "Rat Song".
Get Ready! The end is near.
I feel that this poem is a criticism of the hypocrites nature. It shows hows a human thinks of a rat as a ugly, and malicious creature which serves no good purpose. Perhaps its the lack of understanding of man that causes to disconnect from the world below him. This in a sense is the prime reason to think of man as a rat. Man takes what he can get, strives to get more, and to do this man must become an animal in nature.
ReplyDeleteMargaret Atwood's poem, "Rat Song", is literally a rat's perspective on humankind, saying that humans view rats as emotionless parasites in need of destruction. The rat in the poem is the speaker, and it is talking to the human. This poem was intended to be a commentary on human destruction of nature, as the rat represents the voice of nature vehemently attacking the human race for its atempted destruction of the environment.
ReplyDeleteAlso, the idea presented in the last stanza of the rat, "singing" despite the opression from the man can also be seen as Atwood's idea that the power of nature will ultimately prevail against the human power. This is supported by Atwood's upbringing as an environmentalist.
In “Rat Song” by Margaret Atwood, a rat critically narrates humans as being very disgusting, stupid, and greasy. After understanding the difficult situation of the rat, readers sympathize with the poor rodent, as we realize that rats “take without asking and make nests in your cupboards out of your suits and underwear” because they need to survive.
ReplyDeleteI believe Margaret Atwood was trying to raise awareness to the bitter world of human nature. Her intent was to show that humans, being selfish and oblivious like we are, jump to conclusions about the rat’s foul nature and do not consider the reasons why they do such “nasty” things. When the rat tells the human “You’d do the same if you could” we are placed in the animal nature’s perspective of things and understand that if our situation was similar to the rats, we would do anything we could to survive.
Margaret Atwood's poem, "Rat Song" is written from a perspective of a rat who is trying to survive in a home where he is not welcomed. I think that the rat actually symbolizes us as humans, and Margaret Atwood does this by giving the rat a lot of human characteristics, and in doing that she is commenting not only on how we are alike with nature, but also how we are no better than the rats we try to get rid of. For example,in the last stanza the rat says:
ReplyDelete"You’d do the same if you could,
if you could afford to share
my crystal hatreds.
It’s your throat I want"
and
"All I want is love, you stupid
humanist"
which shows a lot of contradiction and complex feelings for a mere rat. Furthermore, it is also proud of what it has, just like humans are proud of their traits when it says
"you think I’m ugly too
despite my fur and pretty teeth
and my six nipples and snake tail".
And by saying that we are just like these parasites that we have, Margaret Atwood is also saying that we are no different than them. She is saying that we are one with the nature and that we shouldn't abuse it, and that if we could hear each other's song, we might be able to accept and understand each other.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree with Robyn’s analysis of the poem as a representation of the quest for women’s rights. Atwood chose to portray the woman as a rat in order to parallel the similar degrees of suffering both have experienced, longing for the “throat” like that of a male that will allow them to voice their opinions, as represented by the desire to sing. The words, “you stupid humanist,” confirms the point of the woman’s hatred of the human values that are dominated by the views of sexist men. The hatred for the man is further noted in the fact that he has a “greasy person voice” that is preventing the woman from voicing herself. The word “greasy” as a very negative connotation, as greasy is defined as “smeared, covered, or soiled with grease” and therefore the woman’s words are soiled by the man’s voice. The fact that the woman narrator says “I don’t stick around to be slaughtered” indicates that she is unlike the other women of her time that allow themselves to be treated unequally like that of a rodent in the attic. Instead, the woman narrator acts as a nuisance to the man, peeing on the poison as if to warn others, or in a metaphoric perspective, to gain feminist support.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the aforementioned comments that establish that this poem has two layers: firstly, an abused animal's point of view and on a deeper level, a criticism on humanity's unjustifiable feeling of superiority over animal species.
ReplyDeleteFirstly, I find it very interesting that the first line of the poem and the last of the poem are about an animal singing. The animal/speaker in the first line is liberated and aware meanwhile the singing animal in the last line is actually "trapped" in a human's "throat" (a human part which assists in vocalization) Singing is known to be physiologically complex, but more importantly since every individual has a different voice, it parallels individual identity. Through this, Margaret Atwood may be indicating that all animals have their own distinct and unique identity as well as skill sets. This can be warranted by the fact that these mice are given human-like qualities which are prevalent in both good times (freedom) and bad times (containment). It is also interesting that humans are subjugating the mice in both instances: in the first instance, the person hears this singing and hunts down the mice meanwhile in the last instance, the "greasy person voice" is trying to "drown" the rat. This indicates human injustice towards animals as we believe them to be inferior. Atwood also ascribes human traits such as compassion and disdain. The compassion is prevalent through the rat's action because it attempts to warn the other animals of traps meanwhile disdain is relayed through the entire poem, but especially when the rat says "You’d do the same if you could, if you could afford to share
my crystal hatreds." By portraying rats in a human-like way, Atwood is undermining the intellectual stratification of humans vs. animals. She is suggesting that animals are neither inferior nor superior, but actually similar to humans emotionally (through the rat's word), physically (rats' ability to sing), and psychologically (rat's reason to behave the way it did).
In Margaret Atwood’s poem, “Rat Song, the author criticizes the basic premise of the anthropocentric world in which we live. I concur with the majority of previous posts to a large extent, and would definitely agree that this work aims to criticize the way in which people view the “natural world”.
ReplyDeleteThis is primarily done through the perspective of the poem, which puts a rat in the role of the speaker, directly challenging the humanist idea that mankind have the right to tell the story of the world because of what we deem to be our creation of a superior existence. Atwood shows the animal to be as sentient as any person, facilitating a criticism of human animosity towards the natural world. She further pinpoints that our anthropocentric view has made humankind a callous species of organisms, who reach for a rifle upon hearing “singing”, utilizing modern technology to further a fallible viewpoint.
The rat views the human as an unfeeling individual who has lost the natural ability to simply “love”, by judging the world of flora and fauna through manmade standards of beauty, rather than through appreciating the power of survival and adaptation characteristic of organisms such as rats. While humans are shown to resent those who “take without asking and make nests in [their] cupboards”, the rat insinuates that humans are rejecting the value of adaptation and survival, something which all members of this earth hold in common.
However, Atwood states in the last stanza, “though you try to drown him with your greasy person voice, he is hiding between your syllables…I can hear him singing”. Here, she shows that while our attempts to live and succeed in our “rational” society” may overcome us, somewhere within our beings, we too have the ability to “sing” the song of love and natural beauty, if only we attempt to find this hidden voice of ours.
Part 1:
ReplyDeleteIn Margaret Atwood’s poem “The Rat Song”, she describes the thoughts of a typical rat towards what a human perspective of rats. The speaker is a typical household rat, it is suggested that the setting is assumed to be within a typical house. The whole poem is from a rat’s perception of humans. Therefore, it is a rat’s commentary on the human race and its judgemental nature.
Throughout the poem, humanity is thought upon as a negative effect to society. The diction portrayed within the poem has a negative connotation towards humans. As the rat describes the reader as “stupid humanist” lacking the emotion of love. Furthermore, the rat’s use of diction indicates the lack of potential of humans to have any empathy or acknowledgement of the perceptions of the world as it heavily uses the word “could” in this line, “ You’d do the same if you could,if you could afford to share my crystal hatreds.” Because “could” is used here as a idealistic possibility, the connotation is negative because the rate is implicating that it never “could” happen. Moreover, humans seems to be the source of the rat’s, and thereby nature’s, downfall as we “drown” the rat’s “mate” as it hides behind our voice. The negative connotation here of our voice implicates how we are misconstruing the initial objective of humanity to be a contribution to nature.
The poem at the end refers back to the beginning. This possibly implicating on the vicious cycle never-ending cycle that humans have created towards nature. As the conflict between nature and humanity is always in constant unbalanced. It begins with the idea of the rat singing, while almost getting shot, and ends with the idea of its mate in the end singing with no threats. Although the action of singing is taking place in both situations, the beginning and ending seem to be completely opposite situations. As one situation implies that it is a dangerous world to even sing, while in the end singing is safe although it is hidden behind the many voices of humans. The singing is symbolic of the natural instinct of all nature. The rat practices such instinct driven actions based on instinct such as making its living accommodations within the cupboards and eating off of leftover scraps. While the human’s reaction is try to kill the rat, although humans miss most of the time and provides excuses. As it judges and critics on the rat’s essential needs to survival such as its fur and “snake tail”.
Part 2:
ReplyDeleteAnother thing to note on the poem is the progression taken place. Overall, the place of the punctuation period is there to show her complete thought or idea. In the beginning, her ideas are long and descriptive; this is shown in the first stanza. However, as one progresses throughout the poem, the thoughts begin to become more abrupt and harsh. The first note of this is at the last line of the third stanza ending with, “See if you can.” And from there on towards the end do the thoughts and lines become shorter until in the end. On the second to last line of the poem, there is a usage of a slash. This is the only slash indicated within the poem. The slash makes the reader pause as it creates a climatic mood. In addition, the slash could be seen as the wall of “syllables” the rat’s “mate” hides behind. The poem ends with one final thought/line, “I can hear him singing.”. It is important to note that that is the only line within the whole poem that is one complete thought within one line. The rest of the lines within the poem are a series of enjambments, and the thoughts are never fully completed with one line.
There are several ways to interpret this poem. One aspect is the idea of humanity losing the idea of its place within the world and environment as a whole. We have become too elitist, and become judgemental of creatures whom are actually the same class as we are on Earth. We are all animals whom are supposed to live in unity with one another. It seems as if Atwood is trying to show the fact that humans have gained this idealistic view of being superior to other beings and have lost a sense of their original disposition to Earth as creatures. As she tries to point out in the poem on our lack of acknowledgement for the rat’s instinctive nature and habits to survive within the new environment of the home. (and in a more broader sense a man-made world). It is the whole idea of the conflict between the modernization of humans versus nature.
In the poem "Rat Song" by Margaret Atwood a rat is narrating the hardships of being a rat in a person's home, but I think that the author wanted to comment about humans' place in nature. In her poem she writes, “ I live off your leavings…I take without asking
ReplyDeleteand make nests in your cupboards…You’d do the same if you could”. In a way that is exactly what people did. Humans used to live in natural environments and "took without asking" and made nests in nature's cupboards. We are the pests for nature because we constantly alter natural environments for our own needs. Also there is a bit of irony presented because the humans see rats as dirty disgusting creatures, when from the rats perspective we are "greasy" people who leave behind tons of trash that other animals feed off of.
“Rat's Song” is a call to revolution, and discusses the ideology of extremists. (My interpretation is similar Robyn's and Shelby's analysis.) Although there are references to mistreatment of animals, I believe that there is not enough evidence to say that it is necessarily a criticism of humans vs. nature itself.
ReplyDeleteThe first two stanzas set up the context of the poem. The "rat" is essentially a radical (possibly a spy – references to "having the rifle down", "flashlight" are evocative of the image of being "underneath the floorboards"). “Singing” equivocates to voicing one's opinions, and a willingness to become an enemy of the people. The humans represent the majority, or at least the people in power, who try to eliminate this radical that is "too clever" and "dangerous".
The third stanza of “Rat's Song” discusses the hardships of being a radical: there is “poison” like propaganda that is written with the intention of badmouthing the radical group's ideas, radicals are “slaughtered”, radical ideas are thought to be “ugly,” despite being having beautiful implications for the rest of the world – creating a future based on loving relationships, rather than the ethics and morals of “stupid humanist[s]”.
The next two stanzas denote a shift in tone: the radical acknowledges with disgust that everything that the radicals do ultimately stems as a reaction to the majority. Radical movements need the populace to cooperate to be successful, so they must “take without asking” and live like a “parasite” on the majority until the radical group is strong enough to be successful. The radicals hate this relationship (so strongly that it concentrates into “crystals”), but there is nothing they can do, but wait for the majority's “throat” or opinion to concur. They can almost hear the call to revolution, the “singing,” but the majority hasn't realized that it is there yet.
I feel that Margaret Atwood utilized this poem in order to reveal man's selfish tendencies. In the poem, the rat shows loving and selfless qualities by "pissing" on the poison to warn other rats, and expressing its desire for love. Atwood makes this a huge contrast against the human's desire to kill the rat.
ReplyDeleteThe tone of this poem is slightly sarcastic and ironic, and this tone increases in intensity as the poem progresses. In the first stanza, the narrator states, "you get the rifle down
and the flashlight, aiming for my brain,
but you always miss" displaying the rat's mildly bitter tone. In the third stanza, the narrator states, "All I want is love, you stupid
humanist." By calling the human stupid, the narrator shows defiance, and by adding, "See if you can," the narrator challenges the human, seeing him or her as lowly and less capable. At the end of the poem, the narrator states, "It’s your throat I want" which exemplifies a sense of bitterness and hatred that is much more intense than the bitterness of the narrator in the first stanza.
The rat only wants love, yet the human does not realize this because he or she is too self-centered and sees the rat as a nuisance. The progression in tone contributes to the theme of man's selfish tendencies, as the narrator(who is the rat), who only wants love, becomes so bitter due the human's selfishness.
"Rat Song" seems to address the human notion of being separate from nature. Having grown up in the secluded woods of Canada, Atwood surely feels very much a part of nature rather than a ruler or owner of it. The depiction of the human as a reactionary, cruel monster serves to suggest that not only are we not above nature, we are below it. The idea of a "pest" is a purely human conception; other animals don't kill different species for reasons other than self-preservation and sustenance. We seem to kill because our large brains have conceived of a "birthright" to alter what is "supposed"- you can debate the merits of that word- to be a shared environment, in effect acting as the pests of the natural world. Ironic, I'd say.
ReplyDeleteIn my personal opinion, I felt that this poem was meant to highlight the fact that humans often do and say certain things with the belief that the human race is superior to other forms of life, ranging from common pests to the germs we encounter on a daily basis. We tend to think that what humanity deals with is more important, and therefore we treat nature with a cruel insensitivity. We only value life which we deem equivalent to ours, which in turn points out our own selfish hypocrisy. After all, we do not know that we have the right to deem who or what lives or dies.
ReplyDeleteAtwood writes the poem from the perspective of the rat to emphasize this notion or equality for all life, whether it be a rat or a bird or a tree or a bush. She proclaims the innocence of the rat when the rat says "All I want is love", insinuating that the rat only wants what many humans want, and yet it is so heavily oppressed. Atwood wanted us to ask ourselves, "Is it fair that we kill and destroy nature without a second thought because we are 'better'?"
The poem displays the significance of even the smallest amounts of life, and argues that we should value it as we would our own. Atwood raises the worldly status of the rat by personifying it in such a way that we are able to compare it to ourselves, with food, shelter, protection, and a mate. Her argument contains a hint of irony due to the fact that we kill rats for fulfilling the same biological purposes that we do, and in turn she calls out the world's efforts to be earth-friendly and aware of all life.
As previously mentioned, the poem “Rat Song” by Margaret Attwood criticizes many of humanity’s flaws from a rat’s perspective. It shows that humans, capable of loving any and all creatures, are reluctant to accept the rat’s unattractive state, as humans often view rats as pests and parasites. The message Attwood is trying to convey in the poem is that there are many similarities between humanity and the unattractive rats, highlighting all the flaws that we have in common with them, yet continue to discriminate against them. For example, do we not take without asking? Do we not make “nests in the cupboards” of nature? The narrator, or the rat, understands this similarity and therefore, in mockery, calls humans stupid. However, the rat could also be symbolized as someone oppressed, as the rat says “It’s your throat I want”, claiming to want to have a voice in either the world or society.
ReplyDeleteMargaret Atwood is definitely commenting about the conflict between human and nature in her poem "Rat Song." As many others have stated, she writes the poem from a rat's perspective, evading human's attempts to capture or kill it. She comments about the misconceptions humans have about things they are unfamiliar with, such as the rat's habits and characteristics which they deem grotesque. She vilifies the different ways humans have invented to kill "pests" and almost glorifies the way animals have learned to evade. Atwood really emphasizes the split between man and nature.
ReplyDeleteThe poem uses some very strong diction to describe this conflict. Examples such as "slaughtered" "stupid" "piss" denote anger, but in a simplistic language that emphasizes this as everyday occurrences. And she doesn't necessarily have a clearcut villain and victim because she also portrays the human perspective, albeit in a sarcastic tone. "Right, I’m a parasite, I live off your
leavings, gristle and rancid fat" This reminds us, as humans, our own perspective of rats, while the other stanzas propose a different viewpoint.
I agree with most of my classmates before me who thought that this poem had to do with the rat's point of view and the separation of nature and humans from society.
ReplyDeleteThe poem is written from the rat's perspective and has a negative tone towards humans that try to kill rats and regard them as "ugly" and "parasites". However, in the overall sense it isn't necessarily a social commentary on rats and how humans view them but on nature and natural organisms as a whole. Since Atwood is used to nature, she would probably be the type not to be scared of mice or rats. However, the more modern suburban or urban housewife would probably be scared and kill the rat or attempt to do so. This demonstrates Atwood's intention to depict the clear cut line between humans and nature that can not be molded in modern day society.
I agree with all of those who have said that Margret Atwood uses this poem as a commentary on Humanities sense of superiority over animals. By writing this poem from the Rat's perspective, Atwood paints a picture of tyrannical humans who feel the need and right to kill and hate on species which are common in nature and cause us little harm.
ReplyDelete"Right, I’m a parasite, I live off your
leavings, gristle and rancid fat,
I take without asking
and make nests in your cupboards
out of your suits and underwear.
You’d do the same if you could,"
The strong adjectives used in this stanza, combined with the frequent use of pronouns presents the frustration that Atwood believes nature must have with humans. As a species we have so much excess waste and when asked to share (allowing the rat to make its nest and eat our garbage) we show no sympathy.
Forced perspective in poetry is generally used to make the reader see a situation (literally) from a different viewpoint. Rat Song uses this perspective shift to demonstrate the power of a seemingly powerless creature.
ReplyDeleteRats are connoted with uncleanliness, disease, and inferiority in Western society. Atwood, however, spins the perspective around in Rat Song, forcing the reader to re-examine the rat's worth.
Atwood makes it fairly clear that the Rat's situation is clearly not one of which he (or she) is in control. She also makes sure to note that the 'rat' is far cleverer than the human that hunts it (typical feminism, redirected to rats). This allows for an inference to be drawn that the Rat is a symbolic representation of the status of women in Western society. Thus, Atwood's feminist and naturalist backgrounds create an underlying connection between the human and non-human. While some of my fellow classmates see the poem as a feminist critique and others find it to be simply about nature, I feel that Atwood is making broader connections between the human and natural worlds. Indeed, man (or woman, if you so choose) often distinguishes himself (herself) from "nature," despite the fact that he (she) is technically part of it.
Margaret Atwood discusses the relationship between mankind and nature within the poem Rat Song. Taking into account the choice of words Atwood chooses, she describes as humans as precocious. "You think: that ones too clever, shes dangerous..." Here the rat is referring to the human commenting on how humans believe that the rats should be simple minded and walk to their deaths just because it would be convenient for the humans. There is a clear correlation between the way the human treats the rat in this poem and how humans regard nature.
ReplyDeleteOften we encounter natural disasters that are inconvenient to say the least. Violent and often devastating, nature can be terrible at times. Man has come to expect that the weather should come to obey his every whim, while he does not need to return the favor and learn to respect the environment in return. This is especially apparent in the third stanza from the poem, "All I want is love, you stupid humanist. See if you can." The rat is saying that he would like to receive some respect from the human instead of constantly being shunned and ostracized as a filthy and disgusting animal. Ironically rats serve a great purpose to humans, in consuming our garbage. Rats have helped to reduce the amount of waste we leave behind in land dumps, yet humans have neglected to realize how useful rats really are. This is a complete parallel to how humans have taken the environment for granted and expect it to maintain its current status despite the large amounts of pollution we release into the air.
In all Margaret Atwood is making an environmental commentary on the attitude of humans regarding nature and how they take the natural gifts of Earth for granted.
In Margaret Atwood’s poem “Rat Song” she describes the negativity associated with the presence of rats. The poem is narrated by a rat expressing human’s disregard for the critter, claiming it ugly regardless of its “fur and pretty teeth… six nipples and snake tail...” Alternatively, humans consider the rat insignificant and seek to eradicate the critter. Atwood draws similarities between the intentions of humans and rats, specifically, claiming the “parasitic lifestyle” of rats would be inherited by humans if they had the ability to do so.” “Rat Song” details the environmental problems that humankind overlooks by recognizing the common characteristics that appear between both humans and rats as a result of their actions to obtain resources. The rat is also a symbol of the environmental problems prevalent around us.
ReplyDeleteIn the fourth stanza of the poem the narrator states “Right, I’m a parasite, I live off your leavings, gristle and rancid fat… you’d do the same if you could…” The narrator recognizes the rats’ dependence on humans as they take advantage of our means without our acknowledgment. As a result, we attempt to slaughter the rat because it is labeled a pest. The rats threaten our home and “…make nests in… cupboards out of… suits and underwear…” However, the rat mentions that humans would do the same if they could, detailing the notion that we commit the same atrocities as the rat. Herein, Atwood uses an analogy, relating the rats’ threat to our homes with the environmental problems we impose on the environment. Like the rat, humans utilize Earth’s natural resources without considering the negative implications involved. Although the rat is simply attempting to maintain survival, they destroy our homes in the process, just as we are degrading our environment by endlessly consuming our natural resources. Along with the comparison between humans and rats, Atwood refers to the parasite in order to describe the rats’ actions. Nonetheless, this comparison between the rat and the parasite is also significant within humans. Just as the rat is aiming to maintain survival, humans are only considering their personal desires with disregard to nature, similar to parasites unawareness of the negative affects upon the host.
Atwood presents the similarities between the rat and the human to emphasize how our depiction of rats and their means to obtain resources is essentially the way in which humans obtain resources from the Earth. Humans attempt to disregard the environmental problems present; similar to how we refuse to allow rats to exist among us. In the following line stating humans attempt to “…drown him[the rat] with your greasy person voice” also portrays the rat as a symbol of the ecological implications. Although the environment problems exist, humans are attempting to disregard the rat, essentially the environmental effects, and are more interested in pursuing personal interests then considering the Earth and the various critters and creatures we share this planet with.
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ReplyDelete"Rat Song" by Margaret Atwood deals with a rat that condemns the actions that humans have toward the species. Specific examples of this can be see in the lines:
ReplyDelete"I don’t stick around to be slaughtered
and you think I’m ugly too
despite my fur and pretty teeth
and my six nipples and snake tail.
All I want is love, you stupid
humanist. See if you can."
The poem takes that stance that humans believe that they are in charge of the surrounding natural word with disregard for the wellbeing of the animals around them. Atwood tries to convey that even the ugliest and lest precious of animals have emotions, and she criticizes the role humans play in devaluing the animals they they feel are parasitic. (Dan Panasenko)
In Margaret Atwood’s poem “Rat Song” she describes the negativity associated with the presence of rats. The poem is narrated by a rat expressing human’s disregard for the critter, claiming it ugly regardless of its “fur and pretty teeth… six nipples and snake tail...” Alternatively, humans consider the rat insignificant and seek to eradicate the critter. “Rat Song” details the environmental problems that humankind overlooks as Atwood recognizes the common characteristics that appear between both humans and rats as a result of their actions to obtain resources. The rat is also a symbol of the environmental problems prevalent around us.
ReplyDeleteIn the fourth stanza of the poem the narrator states “Right, I’m a parasite, I live off your leavings, gristle and rancid fat… you’d do the same if you could…” The narrator recognizes the rats’ dependence on humans as they take advantage of our means without our acknowledgment. As a result, we attempt to slaughter the rat because it is labeled a pest. The rats threaten our home and “…make nests in… cupboards out of… suits and underwear…” However, the rat mentions that humans would do the same if they could, detailing the notion that we commit the same atrocities as the rat. Herein, Atwood uses an analogy, relating the rats’ threat to our homes with the environmental problems we impose on the environment. Like the rat, humans utilize Earth’s natural resources without considering the negative implications involved. Although the rat is simply attempting to maintain survival, they destroy our homes in the process, just as we are degrading our environment by endlessly consuming our natural resources. Along with the comparison between humans and rats, Atwood refers to the parasite in order to describe the rats’ actions. Nonetheless, this comparison between the rat and the parasite is also significant within humans. Just as the rat is aiming to maintain survival, humans are only considering their personal desires with disregard to nature, similar to parasites unawareness of the negative affects upon the host.
In the following line humans attempt to “…drown him [the rat] with your greasy person voice,” portraying the rat as a symbol of the ecological implications. The environment problems are understood and apparent, however, humans are attempting to disregard the rat, the environmental effects, and are more interested in pursuing personal interests then considering the Earth and the various critters and creatures we share this planet with.
Atwood's poem Rat Song is a critique of humanism and the common disregard of the human race for the environment. It reflects Atwood's environmentalist views and her rejection of humanism and elitism.
ReplyDeleteThe following quote illustrates this:
"All I want is love, you stupid
humanist. See if you can."
Atwood is directly pointing out that humanists, or those who value human interests and affirm some idea of "human nature", are hypocritical. Although humanists say that they love humans, Atwood says that humanists, in their belief that humans are inherently superior to other animals due to attributes such as the ability to think, feel, or act in a certain way, are really unable to love and comprehend that animals have similar characteristics. She continues to say that, through this belief in humanism and a distinguishing human nature, we are disregard all other life forms, and destroying the environment.
In this verse, Atwood accuses humans of the same atrocities as animals, directly comparing humans and animals and again taking an anti-humanist view:
"I take without asking
and make nests in your cupboards
out of your suits and underwear.
You’d do the same if you could,"
Atwood says that humans, like rats, "take without asking" and commit the same atrocities as animals by destroying the environment and disregarding other forms of life. This is ironic, because humans want to exterminate rats in the poem, even though they really are the "rats of the world."
This view is further supported by the following verse:
"Though you try to drown him
with your greasy person voice,
he is hiding / between your syllables
I can hear him singing."
Atwood says that the rat is "hiding between your syllables", noting that the parasitic nature of rats is also something present in humans. She is saying that, "between the syllables" of the words of the humanist, he or she is really advocating an existence similar to that of rats, one of malicious nature. This is also ironic because the humanist says that humans are inherently different from animals, and Atwood is saying that humans are similar to rats by advocating a philosophy like humanism.
All in all, Atwood's Rat Song is a critique on humanism and our society's disregard for the environment.
Atwood's poem titled Rat Song is a commentary on human thought towards the environment as well as a social commentary on the attitudes of the rich towards the poor. Atwood achieves this commentary through the use of an extended metaphor.
ReplyDeleteWith regards to the environmental aspect of this poem, Atwood shows a rat's perspective on the human oppression of the environment. Atwood implies that humans believe themselves to be superior and consider the environment as an inferior aspect of the world. This is evidenced by the line
"and you think I’m ugly too
despite my fur and pretty teeth
and my six nipples and snake tail."
Even though the rat has qualities that are unique and beautiful in their own way, the human shuns the rat because it is different. The human is not used to seeing beauty in that form and thus, regards the rat as inferior.
Another take on this poem is that it is a social commentary that looks at the attitudes of the rich with disdain. The rat is symbolic of the poor and those not as fortunate of the rich, symbolized by the humans. The rat accuses the human of not following humanist ideals, as the human is disregarding the rat (who is almost human from the rat's perspective). The rat says
"You’d do the same if you could,
if you could afford to share
my crystal hatreds",
implying that the rich human would do the same if he was poor. The rich human would also do anything to survive another day if he was in that position.
Additionally, the rat says
"Though you try to drown him
with your greasy person voice,
he is hiding / between your syllables
I can hear him singing."
At this point, the rat says that the human is not that different from the rat, as the rat is hiding inside the human. With this statement, Atwood states that while the rich may consider themselves to be distinct from the poor, the rich and the poor are all humans in the end. The rich are hypocritical in that they act in the same way that the poor do.
In conclusion, Atwood's poem "Rat Song" is a commentary on the environmental ideologies of humans as well as a social commentary critiquing the attitudes of the rich.
I agree with what everyone has being say. I think the fact that this poem is told from the point of view of the rate, really strenghtens the essance of what the poem is reflecting upon. I think the poem is literary talking about a rat who is relfecting on how humans treat them and how they don't value them because humans view rats as rodants. The poems overall meaning is that humans need to appericate every part of nature and not destory it. The diction which is very harsh enhances the tone of the passge, which is very sarcastic. Thus, they way the message of the poem is articulated is very direct and does not sugar the message, to emphazie the point of the poem, whic is that humans should appericate nature and not try to destroy it just because they do not like it, becasue all creatures have to live and coexist with one another.
ReplyDeleteI believe that the poem is not so much a critique of human interaction towards rats, and nature as a whole, but rather an attempt to present the situation from a different viewpoint. In the poem, Atwood bestows the rats with intelligence, creativity, loyalty, and most importantly emotion. This personification makes the plight of the rats more relateable, and causes us to question the manner with which we interact with nature.
ReplyDeleteAtwood also incorporates the term "humanism" into the poem, reminding the reader that a belief in the value of the individual is absurd without also valuing the environment he lives in. By targeting the inconsistency within this value system, Atwood assists the reader in reconsidering his viewpoint regarding himself as well as nature.
By personifying rats, and subsequently criticizing the prevalent human-oriented philosophy of her time period, Atwood successfully creates a platform from which to reshape society's perception of nature, and the manner with which they interact. The daughter of an entomologist and ardent naturalist, Atwood no doubt has very strong emotions with respect to the environment, and these emotions come through as she reminds the reader of his selfish and one-sided view of the world.