Revisiting the classics of childhood

Deeper themes often underlie the seemingly facile terrains of our favorite childhood texts. I recently revisited one such classic, the tense, and at times chilling, The Mouse and the Motorcycle, by Beverly Cleary. As it had so many years ago, the story challenged my settled preconceptions regarding rodents, drawing forth the following reflection:

The text is, at once, stirring and provocative. The juxtaposition of Ralph and Keith's tense relationships with their mothers provides the poignant backdrop for this coming-of-age novel. Ralph's relationship with the motorcycle draws on the resources of Hindu mythology, representing a deliberate contrast with the relationship between Ganesh and his mount, or vahana. Like Ganesh, Ralph is a "remover of obstacles," coming to the aid of young boy sick with fever. It is at this point that east meets west when the god-like mouse incarnates on a new mount, a toy ambulance. Yet the succor he provides, in the form of an aspirin tablet found within the vast underbelly of a poorly maintained hotel, raises subtle questions regarding proper parenting and the perils of western medicine.

These questions are, I venture, still unanswered by the book's worthy sequel, Runaway Mouse.