I.(1.) Reading and Writing Assignment :

Read pages 15-26 in Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH.

Write a multi-paragraph essay that answers the following question:

"Describe the many dangers/conflicts that Mrs. Frisby, her family, and others in her community face;

explain how she faces those difficulties; and name what positive traits she has shown so far in the novel."

Be sure to use supporting details from the text. Write one or two paragraphs. Be sure to echo the question.

One danger/conflict that Mrs. Frisby, her family, and others face is that Timothy has a severe sickness called pneumonia. Mrs. Frisby is worried and sad that Timothy might not be one of the strongest rats and could possibly be sick for a very long time. Mrs. Frisby and the other rats are afraid of Dragon, farmer Fitzgibbon’s cat. Dragon was enormous and had a broad head, a large mouth filled with curving fangs which were needle sharp, seven claws on each foot, and a thick furry tail. He was orange and white with glaring eyes. On Mrs. Frisby’s way home she saw a crow stuck in some string. She tried to help the crow out by untangling the strings from the crow, but the crow soon realized that the cat, Dragon was coming. Mrs. Frisby tried her best to untangle him quickly and she did so. She told the crow, Jeremy, to fly away, but he wouldn’t leave her. He told her to climb on his back and he would fly her home. Mrs. Frisby is very helpful and caring. She went to Mr. Ages’ house to get medicine and faced the cat on her way home. By doing this she helped her son Timothy by bringing the medicine home and by untangling the crow. These are the dangers/conflicts that Mrs. Frisby, her family, and others in her community face.

II. (2.) Reading and Writing Assignment :

Read pages 27-38 in Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH.

Write responses to each of the following factual questions (be sure to echo the question), and then write a one-paragraph response to the thinking question. Be sure to write this response at the foot of your "...frisbyreflection121510" document. SO, you'll need to save it as firstnamelastnamefrisbyreflection121610

a. On page 26, what does Jeremy the crow mean when he says, "We all help one another against the cat"? What message does the author seem to want to impart [give] to us about solving conflicts?

When Jeremy, the crow, said, “We all help one another against the cat,” the author is sending the message that the cat, Dragon, is very dangerous, and that Jeremy and Mrs. Frisby should help each other out to help getting attacked or hurt by the cat. The author is trying to say that when you are in a bad situation, maybe someone could help you, and in return, when they are in a bad situation, you could help them in return to how they helped you.

b. As soon as Timothy has begun to heal, another more serious problem arises that has to do with "Moving Day.”

What is "Moving Day"? Why does Moving Day pose a serious dilemma [hard puzzle with no easy answer] for Mrs. Frisby and Timothy?

Moving Day is when Mrs. Frisby moves with her family away from the fields because Mr. Fitzgibbon’s is going to plow the fields and ruin their homes, and if they stay, they will most likely not survive. The dilemma that comes in the way of moving day is Timothy’s pneumonia. If Timothy moves on Moving Day, he will most likely increase the chance of him getting even sicker. If they don’t move on Moving Day, they will possibly get there house torn apart by the plow and they will have nowhere to stay.

c. On page 32, what is it that Mrs. Frisby remembers her husband saying about problems and solutions? What is the meaning of what he says?

When Mrs. Frisby remembers her husband giving advice on problems and solutions he is saying that you have to find the right path to succeed at what you are doing and you must always believe.

Thinking Question: "Mrs. Frisby has gotten help from Mr. Ages, and she has gotten an offer of help from Jeremy the crow on page 26. What do both events have in common as "solutions to problems"?

Both events in the book have a common situation because the problem for the crow Jeremy was that he had a string stuck to his foot and he could not fly and the solution was that Mrs. Frisby helped him to get it off. Then Mrs. Frisby had a problem that she could not get home in time because the cat was approaching and the solution was that the crow Jeremy, in return to Mrs. Frisby’s favor helped her by flying her home.

So, if all "doors are hard to unlock unless you have the key," what is the special key that Mrs. Frisby needs to find? Think about it this way, what is the general advice that both Mr. Ages and Jeremy would give to anyone who had a difficulty? When YOU don't know what to do, what SHOULD you do?

The special key that Mrs. Frisby needs to find is the willingness to help one another against the cat. They all need to help each other in that situation because if they don’t they could all get in serious troubles.

III. (3.) Read Frisby pages 39 to 52. Summarize all of the major events. Use transitional language (First, Next, Then, After that....)

In the beginning, Mrs. Frisby is nervous about moving day and moving Timothy and his pneumonia and the tractor and the cat, Dragon. After that, she was wandering looking for dinner, and she had found Jeremy the crow. They were having a conversation and the crow offered to help Mrs. Frisby go into the forest and help her find the owl and fly her high into the trees where he lived. The next day, Mrs. Frisby had met Jeremy and they started flying to the Owl’s house. They met at the owl’s tree and started to discuss Mrs. Frisby’s problems with Timothy.

IV. (4.) Read Frisby pages 53-74. No writing assignment yet.

V. (5) Read Frisby pages 75-88.

--Write a short response that...

+ How on pages 63 and 64 Mrs. Frisby and her son Timothy switch parent-child roles.

+ What Mrs. Frisby learns about the technology and architecture of the rats' sub-rosa world, and what we know

and what we can infer about the rats' "plan."

On pages 63 and 64, Mrs. Frisby and her son Timothy switched parent/child roles. Mrs. Frisby was acting like a child when she got all concerned about Moving Day and then Timothy took lead and acting more mature by saying that if he had pneumonia,

that he wanted to think about Moving Day because he didn't want to have to get sick right before they were moving out. He wanted to be prepared, whereas Mr. Frisby was lying to her son to make him feel better, and not have him worry about it. Mrs. Frisby then goes off to find the Rats of NIMH and when she gets there, she realizes all this cool technology and architecture that the rats have done, and she is beginning to learn that in this world, they have all of these things because they take things from the farmer and they collect all the fresh water that they can and to get the electricity, they had used the lights from Christmas trees and they used that as their lighting for the ceiling and they also used that for all their lighting purposes. We can then infer about the rats' plan that it will be very thought out and specific. I think that it will be like this because all the rats are very specific and they are so organized with everything, that I think that this plan will be very sophisticated and they will try to do whatever they can to help save Timothy and his family from being hurt on moving day.

VI. (6.) Read and respond to the following reflection questions:

Read Frisby pages 89-111.

Write a short essay that answers and explains the following:

+Describes and explains the meaning of strange advice that Mrs. Frisby is given by the owl.

The strange advice that Mrs. Frisby is given to from the owl is to put her house “in the lee of the stone.” To put her house “in the lee of the stone” means to put her house in the part of the garden with the least amount of wind or where the rock blocks the wind from hitting her house.

+What two important pieces of infomation does Mrs. Frisby learn in the chapter "A Powder for Dragon," one about what "in the lee of the stone" means, and another about how Jonathan Frisby had died.

The two important pieces of information that Mrs. Frisby learns is that “in lee of the stone” means the side that has no wind. Since Mrs. Frisby’s house is the side that has the wind hitting it, she wants to put it “int the lee of the stone” where there is no wind. She also learns about how her husband, Jonathan Frisby dies. He had died by running away from Dragon and got eaten by him.

+In the chapter "The Marketplace" and "In the Cage," summarize what Mrs. Frisby and we learn about exactly where the rats come from, what happened there, and how they started to become whom or what they are--intelligent rats.

In the chapter “The Marketplace” and “In the Cage” Mrs. Frisby learns that the rats came from NIMH. When they were there, most of the rats got captured by science workers, and they were taken to a laboratory to get tests taken and experiments done on them. Some of them became intelligent rats because they were injected with a needle that made them smarter, and they will be able to complete the maze that they have to face.

VII. (7.) Read through page 141. Answer the following:

�Describe step-by-step how the rats are taught to read. Explain how/in what way their escape from NIMH shows intelligence and responsibility and civilization. What is the identity of the rats of NIMH? In other words, what have they become?

The rats are taught to read by first repeating the first letter multiple times, then second then third. Then they spelled out the word all together and said it in a full word. They then wrote the letters on the board and said the letter that was up on the board. After the reading lessons, the rats show intelligence, responsibility and civilization by using what they learned to their benefit. They used the reading advantage to read how to get out of their cage by reading the release latch. The rats of Nimh have become smart, intelligent rats. They have had many painful injections, but they have learned a lot and now they are very intelligent rats. They use this intelligence to become free from the laboratory.

VIII. (8.) Read Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH, pages 142-148

Question/Writing: In the chapter �The Boniface Estate,� what are the signs that the rats have totally transformed into different creatures, that they now have a different identity? What are the clues (reactions) from other rats that the identity of the rats of NIMH has changed? What discontent, or worry, do the rats start to have about stealing? What is the greatest discovery that the rats make at the Boniface Estate? What does all of this mean about the rats� identity about who they are?

The signs that the rats have totally transformed into different creatures are how they are now much bigger and stronger than they were before. The reaction of the other rats helps them identify they have changed. Their reactions are that they think they were strong and they were weak and puny. The rats have a worry about stealing. Their worry is why rats always lived that way? Stealing and they began to think and their thought grew big but slowly. The greatest discovery the rates make is at Boniface Estate. There has been no one living in it for a few months. No

one else knows that because the automatic light switches make it look like the house is occupied to keep burglars out. The rats are a project done by a professor who now left to live on an estate after he got married.

IX. (9.)

Read Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH, pages 149-157

Question/Writing: In the chapter �The Main Hall,� what occurs that shows that the author wants to remind us of the theme/message of kindness? Later in this chapter he moves on to the theme of self-sufficiency. Define �self-sufficiency.� Look it up in the dictionary. Why do the rats want to be self-sufficient? What preparations, or invention, have they made to plan to be self-sufficient?

The theme that the author wants to remind us of is kindness. To help each other out and for the rats not to steal and try to live off what they have, to do everything on your own and be self-sufficient. The rats want to be self-sufficient because they don’t want to steal from other people or rats. The invention that Nicodemus has invented that helps them to be self-sufficient is the plow to plant/harvest the seeds.

X. (10.) Read Mrs. Frisby pages 158-164.

Answer the following questions in an extended response of at least eight sentences. Why do the rats admire the monks of the Middle Ages? In what way were the monks self-sufficient? Why were/are the rats so hated? What mistake was made by the prairie dogs, according to a book in the Boniface Estate Library? Based on the answers to these questions, what lesson about the building of a future civilization do the rats make? In other words, when the rats leave the

Fitzgibbon Farm, how do the rats want to live and what kind of a community do they want to create?

The rats admire the Monks of the Middle Ages because Nicodemus liked history and he read all about Egyptians, Romans, Greeks, the Dark Ages and more. The reason the rats really admired the Monks was because they lead the simplest kind of lives, studied & wrote, grew their own food, and they built their own houses & furniture. The Monks are sufficient by building their own houses, building their own furniture and by growing their own crops. Rats are hated so much because they steal. They steal a lot of the crops that farmers grow. The mistake then made by the Prairie Dogs was that they became lousy and did nothing which caused the monkeys to take over them. Based on this lesson about building for a future civilization, the rats make a plow. They want to create a community where they grow everything they own, so they do not have to steal, and they also want to have many subways to travel on.

XI. (11.) Read Frisby pages 165-186.

Answer the following thinking questions in a short essay of no fewerthan 8 sentences, and no more than 20 sentences:

A. What does the allegorical story [story with an intended message] of the vacuum cleaner business on pages 169-171 mean about the danger of taking the easy way out, of the danger of �stealing�?

The allegorical story has a danger about taking the easy way out. The danger of taking the easy way out is you can cause pollution to city/town and it can kill plants, animals, and harm human beings. The danger is the vacuum business always runs on coal, which creates air pollution which harms plant and animal life.

B. Why does Jenner disagree with Nicodemus about whether they should move to Thorn Valley? Why does Nicodemus disagree with Jenner? Later on, in the next chapter, �Captured,� we learn why Jenner left. Why did he and his followers leave?

Jenner disagrees with Nicodemus because Jenner thinks it will be a lot of work for the rats to tend crops and find food and bring it all the way to the cave. Jenner thinks that the rats should stay at the cave because they already have everything you need for a civilization and if you move, you will have to rebuild everything. Jenner left because he didn’t think this plan would work, and he didn’t want to take a risk. His followers left because they thought the same thing as Jenner. Only a few went on to his side, so the rest of the rats continued with the plan.

C. On page 179, what do we learn about Jonathan Frisby that shows his kindness towards his wife? What did he not tell Mrs. Frisby? Why did he not tell her this?

Mrs. Frisby did not have the injections as Mr. Frisby did. He didn’t want to tell her this because the injections made them live longer and healthier lives. So this meant that Mr. Frisby would live a longer life than Mrs. Frisby. Mrs. Frisby would getr older, and older, and older while Mr. Frisby would not die as soon. Eventually, Mrs. Frisby would die and their children would die too. He didn’t want to tell her this because he thought it would make her sad. It was distressing to him so he thought how painful it could have been for Mrs. Frisby, so that is why he did not tell her this.

D. All of the above responses have to do with doing the right thing. According to the author, what does it mean to do the right thing? Refer to your answers above. What does the author want us to see about the connection between being civilized and �doing the right thing"?

To the author, doing the right thing is very good. To do the right thing means not to tell someone something that might hurt them or not to hurt the person that you care about deeply, like Mr. Frisby cared about Mrs. Frisby. The connection between being civilized and doing the right thing is the rats are civilized in the way that they are rich and have everything going for them and then doing the right thing for them is not to steal. The connection is if you steal to be civilized, you are not doing the right thing.

XII. (12). Read Frisby pages 187-194.

Answer the following fact and thinking questions:

A. What does Mrs. Frisby learn when she is captured, inside the birdcage?

Mrs. Frisby learns when she is captured in the birdcage that the government is going to exterminate every rat they could find, and they were going to take out the rosebush and exterminate all the rats in there. She has to tell Nicodemus, but she has no way to tell him because she is trapped in a birdcage.

B. Why, ironically, is Mrs. Frisby's capture a good thing?

It is a good thing that Mrs. Frisby is captured because if she wasn’t captured and she was in the rosebush, she wouldn’t have heard the news that the government would have told Mr. Fitzgibbon and his wife. Also, if she wasn’t captured, and she didn’t hear the plan, she could have been killed by the plow that would exterminate the mice.

C. Describe two other examples of "entrapment" [being trapped or caught] that, ironically, led to good things. Explain fully.

Something that ironically leads to a good thing is when Mrs. Frisby is captured in the birdcage and she then overhears advice that she needs to save her and the rats of NIMH.

XIII. (13). Read Frisby pages 195-205

In the chapter, �Escape,� (especially on pages 196 and 197) Mrs. Frisby spends quite a bit of time thinking about the rats. Re-read those pages. Why does Mrs. Frisby want to escape and do? What does this say about her character? What does she say about the rats and their plan? What message does the author want to give us about goodness and bravery and intelligence and civilizations?When Mrs. Frisby is in the birdcage she wants to escape and to tell the rats about the farmer’s terrible plan to exterminate all the rats in Mr. Fitzgibbon’s farm. She also wants to be there to help calm her children. This tells us that her character is sweet, kind and loving. She says that the rats and their plan is a good plan and a brave one. The author wants to give us goodness, bravery, intelligence and civilization in a message. The message is to try your hardest to think of ways to get out of a pickle, and don’t doubt others plans, and give them a chance. You never know what the outcome could be. The author is also telling us that the intelligence of the rats is very high, and the civilizations are definitely amazing, so the message is, don’t doubt others and their plans.

During the last five pages of the chapter, we see the rats actually moving Mrs. Frisby�s house. What do they do? How do they do it? In what ways do they show specialization of labor? In what ways do they show intelligence? Resourcefulness? Cooperation? According to the author, what does it mean to be truly civilized?When the rats are actually moving Mrs. Frisby’s house, they are not lifting it up and putting it down again, they are digging a new

hole and filling the old one with the dirt they got from the new hole. Arthur and Brutus are digging the hole for the new home, and filling the old hole with the soil from the old house so Mr. Fitzgibbon’s is not suspecting the rats to dig up his garden. They show specialization of labor by all the rats having different jobs, so each rat is good at a different thing. For example, they had Arthur and Brutus dig the hole because they are fast diggers. They had 20 other rats lift up the cinder block because they were most likely stronger. In that chapter, and moving Mrs. Frisby’s house, the rats had to have a lot of intelligence on how to move the cinder block and not get hurt. They also had to have a lot of resourcefulness on watching other rats’ maybe, or workers dig holes. They also had to have a lot of cooperation or else they wouldn’t have gotten the job done of moving Mrs. Frisby’s house. According to the author, to be civilized is to be living in an orderly fashion, with a house and many details, but perhaps not as many details as the rats have.

XIV. (14) Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH, pages 206-215

On page 206, how do we know that an important conflict (Mrs. Frisby�s conflict) has been resolved?

We know that an important conflict has been resolved because Mrs. Frisby had woken up with a smile and she was very happy with her new home.

At the meeting with the rats that Mrs. Frisby attends, explain exactly how�and why--the rats intelligently come to the conclusion that they must abandon their �subrosa� [meaning under the rose and meaning a secret] home? What evidence do they have? How do they intelligently evaluate the evidence? What predictions do they make?

At the meeting with the rats, that Mrs. Frisby attends, the rats intelligently come to a conclusion that they have to abandon their subrosa because Mr. Fizgibbon is going to exterminate the fields where the rats live. He is doing this because they heard from the government that most of the rats in the area are sick with rabies, and they don’t want to pass the sickness along to the humans. They could pass this easily along by harvesting the crops, and if the rats have been there and bit the crops. The evidence they have is what Mrs. Frisby overheard when the people came into Mr. Fitzgibbon’s house. They intelligently evaluate the evidence they have and make the best decision they can: move out and bury the old house. The prediction they make is the prediction that Mr. Fitzgibbon’s will not know that the rats were there if they burry the old hole (house).

Then, after they decide to abandon their underground lair, what strange plan do they hatch? Why do they come up with this plan?

After they abandon their underground lair, they hatch the strange plan that if they move farther away from the hole, and they bury the old underground lair, Mr. Fitzgibbon will never know they were there. They come up with this plan because if Mr. Fitzgibbon needs to exterminate, and they have nowhere else to go, and if he finds the hole, he will keep searching until he finds the rats and kills them.

Timothy asks his mother on page 215 why the rats are moving away. She says, �Because they want to.� This is a deep and profound statement. Why do the rats want to move away? What does their wanting to do so reveal about who they are and what their true character is?

The rats want to move away because they want to be safe from Mr. Fitzgibbon and his poisonous gasses that he is going to spread over the rats’ homes. Their wanting to move away reveals the true rats. It tells us that their true character is caring and helpful. They are caring because they care about timothy and his pneumonia, and the rats are helpful because they move Mrs. Frisby’s house for her because of how Jonathan Frisby helped them on their expedition in NIMH.

XV. (15) Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH, pages 216-233 The author ends the novel with a final �statement� about intelligence, courage, and kindness. In your own view, what is the overall, general message that the author would like to leave us with about being civilized, especially as it relates to intelligence, courage, and responsibility? More specifically, in what way are all three ideas related to the idea of being civilized? First, in what way does the rats� method of trying to fool their would-be executioners show intelligence? What do the rats do that is clever? Second, what brave or heroic action does Mrs. Frisby witness? What past action of her own does it �mirror,� or in what way has she, too, been heroic? Thirdly, on pages 230 and 231, how does Mrs. Frisby show kindness or consideration or responsibility when she speaks with her children? Finally, re-read what you wrote. Then, think and write: What does the author of Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH want us to know about being civilized? What does it mean to be civilized? What are the character traits of a civilized person? Why is being civilized hard? Is it easier to be � uncivilized � ? Why? FINAL REFLECTION/ESSAY ON MRS. FRISBY AND THE RATS OF NIMH

“What are the enduring [lasting] lessons, messages, or meanings of Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH?”

Introduction

TitleAuthorBriefly state the lessons/messages/ meanings.Explain how this will be proved without using the word I.At least three body paragraphsDevelop/prove your points with examples from the novel.ConclusionWhat has been proved.

Why this is important. How you can/will use theselessons/messages

Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH(Final Reflection)

By: Robert C. O’Brien

In the book Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by Robert C. O’Brien the overall message relates to intelligence, courage and responsibility. That message is when times are tough; you can always get through them. People are willing to help you if you help them back, just like how Mrs. Frisby helped Jeremy the crow get the tinfoil off his foot, and in return, Jeremy brought her to the wise owl for advice.

In the beginning of the book, Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH, Mrs. Frisby shows intelligence, courage and responsibility. She shows intelligence because she knows that her son has pneumonia, a very harmful disease, and she is intelligent to know that she has to do something about, so she goes to the owl’s tree and gets advice on how to help Timothy.

In the middle of the book, Mrs. Frisby shows courage by risking her life by putting powder in the cat Dragon’s bowl, in order for the rats to move her house. She has to move her house because if she waits to long, then she could have her house plowed over by the plow. In order to move her house, Dragon must be asleep because the cat will chase the mice and he might kill them, so they need powder to put the cat to sleep.

Towards the end of the book, Mrs. Frisby shows responsibility by telling her kids the truth of what really happened to her husband Jonathan, and their father. If she had not told her kids the truth of what really happened to their father, she would not be acting responsibly. She also would be not considerate of the children and what they deserve to know about their father.

The overall general idea the author wants to leave us thinking about relates with intelligence, courage, and responsibility. In my view, the author wants us to think about being civilized relating to intelligence, courage, and responsibility. The rats show intelligence by creating their own civilization or home. They were intelligent because they thought of the plan to make two escape holes leading outside their house. They did this because the exterminators could try to get them to come out the first hole but they tricked them and went out the other one.  The rats showed courage by being brave and sticking to their plan. Ten rats were supposed to go in and out of the rosebush so the exterminators would think there were about twenty rats. By going in and out of the rosebush, the rats would have to be brave and try not to breathe in the gas which could cause them to die. Doing this task is a big risk but these ten rats were brave enough to do it so that the other rats could live and escape from their home at the Fitzgibbon’s farm. The rats show responsibility by carrying out their plan and they were smart enough to

come up with this plan so that the other rats would not be killed. The rats each had certain jobs to do in this plan. All of the rats did what they were supposed to do, even though some things did not go as they planned. Two rats were found dead inside the tunnel of the rosebush and they were killed by the deadly fumes that the exterminators sprayed in the rosebush.  These three ideas are related to the idea of being civilized because they all are a part of the rat family and they work together. That is what a community does so this proves that the rat civilization is cooperative and they share and work together.

The heroic and brave action Mrs. Frisby witnesses is when one of the rats ran back into the toxic gases and saved another rat. That rat was risking his own life to try to save another’s life. That must be pretty brave and heroic for Mrs. Frisby because she most likely never saw something so brave, or at least that is one of the bravest things Mrs. Frisby has witnessed. The past actions of her own that it mirrors is when she risked her life by putting powder in the cat Dragon’s bowl. She is very heroic because when she put the powder in Dragon’s bowl, she was doing that so the rats could move her house into the rosebush. She was doing something to help someone out, the rats moving the house, just like the rat that ran through the toxic gasses was helping out the other rat.

On pages 230-231 Mrs. Frisby talks to her children with consideration, responsibility, and kindness by telling her children what really happened to her husband, their father. She considers that her children must know the truth of what really happened to him, and she didn’t want to lie to them. She considered how they felt, and what was right for them. She talks to her children with responsibility by making sure they are responsible about knowing the truth and knowing how to react responsibly when the subject comes up, so they are not freaking out.  She is also talking to them with kindness by telling them the truth about their father and she is taking in what their reactions and comments are.

The author of Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH wants us to know that being civilized can lead to great things. We can learn about how to respect one another and not to hurt one another. That is what the author wants to about being civilized. Being civilized means to have a society, laws and strict rules about their government and where all the rats live. The character traits of a civilized person are obeying the rules, living kindly and respecting one another.  It is hard being civilized because you have to obey all the rules of the society and you have to respect one another. If you do something against the law you can go somewhere where you are punished like a jail. It is easier being uncivilized because you do not have any rules to follow and you can do whatever you would like, whereas in a civilized government you cannot do whatever you want and you have to follow certain rules. Clearly, the message of the story is being civilized can really help one.

The overall message of the story Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH is to be civilized and to have a society. This can really help one in their lives’ for the future and even now as to how they know how to live and how to stay organized. Having a civilization is very useful in many ways. This relates to me in my life by my town by having a society and laws, and just like the rats, most people help each other out when

they are in trouble, just like Mrs. Frisby does to all the people she encounters. Clearly, having a civilization is very useful, and can help you in your troublesome situations.