Fourth Grade Rats

The novel utilizes an adapted four-stage coming-of-age story structure to communicate Suds’s struggles with Navigating the Path to Preadolescence. Suds’s crisis occurs as he becomes more aware of the uncomfortable social expectations of being a fourth grade rat, for he feels that in order to conform to this new standard, he must give up things that are important to him. Suds’s reactions to suggestions that he give up cherished childhood objects offer a glimpse into the sense of loss he feels. A prime example of this dynamic occurs in Chapter 1 when he reflects that his lunchbox “was like a brother to [him]” and that he “wasn’t even sure [he] could eat lunch at school without it” (10). In this scene, the lunchbox takes on an abstract status far beyond its immediate utility, for it represents a safe and familiar object that has been with Suds throughout his childhood; his uncertainty about life without it parallels the destabilization he feels as these sudden changes upset his inner equilibrium. Suds’s bathtime contemplations in Chapter 4 convey a similar sense of loss, for he muses, “I always thought when you grew up, stuff like bikes and bubble gum just sort of disappeared from your life. […] I never thought you actually had to give them up, whether you were ready or not” (35-36). Although Suds feels a sense of loss at the thought of giving up his childhood things, the consideration that this is necessary for him to become a man drives him into the world of the fourth grade rat, preparing him to undergo the “journey” stage in the next chapters. 

By opening the novel on Suds’s first day of fourth grade, Jerry Spinelli shows the protagonist in the midst of an explicit transitional stage in order to reinforce the novel’s thematic exploration of the changes that come with growing up. In fact, the infamous school rhyme that haunts Suds throughout the story is featured in the very first lines. The idea of the “fourth grade rat” (1) is a structuring motif that provides an explanation for Suds’s inner battles and outer manifestations of poor behavior, for although he wishes that he “could still be an angel” (3) like the third graders, he instead chooses to put himself in situations that result in hard lessons about The Costs of Succumbing to Peer Pressure. Suds’s natural inclination is to be good; he struggles with any actions that require him to wrong others. His conflict over being an “angel” versus a “rat” represents the half-articulated conflict he feels between his longing for childhood and his drive to enter a form of adulthood.

With the primary conflict established, the author is free to let his young protagonist explore The True Meaning of Maturity, and as the opening chapter foreshadows, this proves to be a rocky road with many missteps, for both Suds and his overeager friend Joey have a rather misguided view of what true maturity looks like. With a series of whimsical yet relatable misadventures, Spinelli reframes Suds’s inner conflict in an unforgiving social setting that compels the young boy to gradually abandon his own morals in order to conform to the urgings of his friends. From the opening pages, Joey prompts Suds for a transition that he isn’t quite ready to embrace, creating an internal crisis for Suds as he reckons with the idea of giving up beloved toys and behaving cruelly to younger students. As he struggles and temporarily fails to maintain his integrity in these situations, the novel delves more deeply into The Costs of Succumbing to Peer Pressure. Joey plays a key role in pressuring Suds into the transition to a fourth grade rat by convincing him that such a transition is inevitable. While this dynamic fuels Suds’s desire to attain maturity and causes him to examine the concept of adulthood in greater complexity, the sudden shift in social expectations creates immense confusion and turmoil for him. As he struggles to balance his own ideas with those of his friend, he is forced to reflect on the questions of personal identity that such a transition to preadolescence often evokes, prompting him to consider himself and his world in a new way. 

Because bathtime represents a safe, judgment-free space for Suds to contemplate his problems and choices, this setting serves as a motif that emphasizes the theme of The True Meaning of Maturity. Baths are an important source of stress relief for Suds, and they function as a liminal space of reflection for him. As the character states, “It doesn’t matter what time of the day or night it is. If I’m sad or ticked off or wound up about something, I usually feel better if I head for the water” (34). Because the majority of Spinelli’s narration is focused on action and dialogue, these important inner reflections gain prominence by contrast, and the author uses these quieter interludes to emphasize the conclusions that Suds reaches. Additionally, baths are explicitly linked to Suds’s chosen identity, for his nickname is based upon his long history of deeply enjoying the quiet of bathtime. The image of the bath therefore symbolizes a deeper, more stable self that has endured throughout Suds’s life. Significantly, baths are also the only thing that Suds is in no danger of giving up as another dubious proof of his ascension to the status of “rat.” Unlike the lunchbox or his PB&J sandwiches, baths are a symbol of Suds’s identity, mixing past and present and creating a space of reflection in which he will eventually succeed at sorting out his true self from his peer-induced affectations.

The Costs of Succumbing to Peer Pressure are heavily emphasized in the early chapters of the novel as Joey intensifies his campaign to convert Suds’s behavior to what he believes is a more mature presentation. Significantly, Joey pressures Suds to become a rat like him through derision; his criticism of Suds’s lunchbox is the first example of a social dilemma that spawns Suds’s new doubts about himself, heightening his awareness of how others perceive him. His new trepidation is eloquently conveyed by his own nervous narration when he states, “We packed up our lunches. We didn’t even get to eat most of them. As we headed out, I wondered if anybody was looking at my lunchbox” (15). This precipitating event causes Suds to accept Joey’s offer to “train” him to be a rat, thereby reflecting the wider influence of peer pressure and intensified self-consciousness. When the school bully humiliates Suds in the cafeteria, Suds interprets this incident as external confirmation that Joey’s views on proper fourth-grade conduct are correct. Convinced that falling in with the school rhyme is the only way to avoid such incidents and gain popularity, Suds is newly motivated to become a rat himself. However, The Costs of Succumbing to Peer Pressure are soon evident when he realizes that becoming a rat means straying from important principles. For example, when Joey kicks the first graders off the swings, Suds is reluctant to follow suit because it is against his values to bully younger children. The fact that the incident is “the first time anyone had ever been afraid of [him]” (23) foreshadows the fact that becoming a rat will eventually change others’ perceptions of Suds in ways that will compel him to abandon his values altogether.

Joey’s explanations of the significance of being a rat in Chapter 3 establish the concept of adulthood as a major motif. He tells Suds that “being a rat is the next step to being a man” (29), and this statement reflects his erroneous belief that bad behavior is synonymous with maturity. Struck by this comparison, Suds acknowledges that he does want to be a man and gain maturity, but ironically, he does not yet have enough maturity to be able to recognize the inherent immaturity in his friend’s definition of the word. As the overarching theme of The True Meaning of Maturity gains new urgency and prominence in the narrative, Spinelli will craft a series of humorously disastrous misadventures to highlight everything that maturity is not. In this way, the author delivers important life lessons without committing the crime of “talking down” to his young readers.

Chapter 5 develops the adulthood motif and its associated theme: The True Meaning of Maturity. When Suds complains about Joey’s belief that being a rat is the first step to being a man, his mom suggests that there’s more than one way to become a man. Although she says this jokingly, as she follows her advice with a pointed prompt for Suds to do his chores, and the juxtaposition of these two statements foreshadows an important conclusion at the novel’s end. As Suds will eventually learn, being a man does not require displays of aggression or power; instead, the journey to adulthood is an internal one in which an individual acquires a deeper sense of self and a greater sense of autonomy and personal responsibility. Mom’s statement about adulthood therefore implies that Joey’s ideas about adulthood are false, which creates the expectation that following Joey’s advice on the topic rather than Mom’s will lead Suds to nothing but trouble.

Although Suds’s conversation with his mother provides a temporary resolution to his fears, Joey’s ominous question at the very end of Chapter 5 retracts the temporarily relieved mood, for his demanding query, “Did you say no to your mother?” (49) serves as a reminder that Suds is still susceptible to peer pressure and is still firmly on the path to becoming a fourth grade rat. This cliffhanger query foreshadows Suds’s next stage of development, wherein he takes his first voluntary steps toward becoming a rat.