Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH The Home Quotes

How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)

Quote #4

She remembered again what her husband had said—how easy it was to unlock a door when you have the key. She had found the key. (13.21)

This is Mrs. Frisby's "a-ha" moment, when things are all starting to fall into place. It's neat how the metaphor of a key is used, since most of us use keys to get into our own houses.

Quote #5

"We lived near this market—my father, my mother, my nine sisters and brothers and I—underground in a big pipe that had once been part of a storm sewer." (14.25)

That must have been one crowded drainpipe. Even though Nicodemus has evolved in such a way that he probably wouldn't be up for living in a sewer anymore, he still waxes sentimental about his old digs because his family is there.

Quote #6

They could stay in the house, now, as long as they needed to. On some warm day later in the spring, when Timothy was strong again, they would move to the summer house down by the brook […] It could be theirs forever, thanks to the rats. (26.2)

It's nice that Mrs. Frisby's sense of hope has been renewed. Now that her home is safe, she is also confident that Timothy will get better. In this book, home and safety are closely linked, so this makes a lot of sense.