The Mouse and the Motorcycle

Matt, who had seen guests come and go for many years, knew there were two kinds—those who thought the hotel was a dreadful old barn of a place and those who thought it charming and quaint, so quiet and restful.”

This excerpt characterizes Matt the bellboy. Hotel employee Matt knows that people see things the way they want to, and that their viewpoint sometimes determines their outcomes. The optimists will enjoy themselves in any situation, while the worriers will find fault with everything. Kids often simply explore without judgment, and this lets them have experiences their parents, who shy away from too many surprises, might avoid altogether.

“There it was on the end—the motorcycle! Ralph stared at it and then walked over and kicked a tire. Close up the motorcycle looked even better than he expected. It was new and shiny and had a good set of tires. Ralph walked all the way around it, examining the pair of chromium mufflers and the engine and the hand clutch. It even had a little license plate so it would be legal to ride it. ‘Boy!’ said Ralph to himself, his whiskers quivering with excitement. ‘Boy, oh, boy!’”

Ralph the mouse lives for adventure, to his mother’s ongoing chagrin. He’s just discovered a toy motorcycle left in the hotel room by the boy Keith, and suddenly, the world centers around that miniature form of transportation. This moment in the story establishes the primary need of protagonist Ralph, his yearning for adventure. The toy motorcycle is a key symbol in the novel.

“Ralph thought sadly of his comfortable home in the mousehole. It was a good home, untidy but comfortable. The children who stayed in Room 215 usually left a good supply of crumbs behind, and there was always water from the shirts hung to drip-dry beside the washbasin. It should have been enough. He should have been content to stay home without venturing out into the world looking for speed and excitement.”

Ralph simply had to get a good look at the boy’s toy vehicles, especially the motorcycle that’s exactly the right size for a mouse to ride. Instead, he ends up trapped in the room’s trash can. There’s a good chance he’ll be tossed into a garbage bin or worse. This is Ralph’s first of many encounters with the trouble his adventurous spirit can cause, developing the theme of