Mother says there are rats in the rockery. ‘You’ll have to do something about them,’ she says, ‘or they’ll over-run the whole place.” - The Ratman’s Notebooks 1968
Rats have been represented throughout popular culture with about as much vitriol as can be placed on one singular species. Whether the natural fear most humans have of rodents is well founded or not, one celebrated novel cemented the idea. With 1968 publication of The Ratman’s Notebooks, the writer Stephen Gilbert would usher in a hugely successful genre of man-eating, evil intentioned animals as public enemy number.
The last book written by this then little known writer, positioned the rat as THE villain in both literature and cinema, ushering in a period of horror fiction as a mainstream and monetarily successful genre. Kim Newman in the introduction to the 2013 republication of The Ratman’s Notebooks[1] discusses the influence of the success of Gilbert’s book along with the film adaptations[2] on the entire horror genre. Gilberts book “made rampaging vermin a major horror theme of the 1970s and ‘80s” and lead the way for the huge success of future books and films that would explode with mainstream success. It inspired numerous movies with animals as unemotional predators preying on unsuspecting humans. The best example would be the hugely successful Jaws in 1975 which would break all box-office records at the time and spawn numerous low budget animals-as-the-enemy TV and film productions.
Who hasn’t fantasized about delivering revenge upon those who have slighted us in some personal way? The rat with its destructive reputation fit the revenge fantasy narrative perfectly; a malevolent animal perfect for delivering the wrath of the underdog onto a deserving oppressor.
In this plot, the outsider protagonist suffers a lifetime of abuse, suddenly discovers a special ability and takes revenge on his tormentors with gusto. This lonely character eventually loses control of this extraordinary power, ironically bringing on his own demise, but not before several innocent people have suffered the same fate. Poor Willard, after driving his sadistic boss to an untimely and gruesome death, leaves the reader with the rats turning upon their leader.
In Gilbert’s book, Willard’s fate is left unclear, however a final confrontation with the very beings he made to do his bidding is inevitable:
Not quick enough. The rats had come after me. A solid mass of them crossing the landing. Just got the door shut in time.
I can’t reach the skylight. Too high. Have to sit out and hope.
Leave that door alone damn you. They’d gnaw the door down if I didn’t keep yelling. Maybe somebody will hear me
The reader knows Willard’s violent fate is sealed with the oncoming tsunami of rats gnawing at his door.
The influence of the Ratman’s Diaries can be seen in the contemporary works of popular horror writers such as Stephen King, who has made a career of mainstreaming people’s most intimate fear of ‘wild’ animals. How can the gentle and misunderstood rat overcome this bad reputation?
[1] Kim Newman, introduction to The Ratman’s Diaries, by Stephen Gilbert, (Virginia; Valancourt Books, 2013), vi [2] The Ratman’s Notebooks was retitled Willard after the main character, for the very successful 1970 film starring Bruce Davidson and remade more recently in 2003 starring Glover.