Title: The Year of the Rat

Author: Chen Qiufan

Date of First Publication: July 2013

Place of Publication: The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction

Type: Short Story

Characters: No Character

Themes: MAD SCIENTISTS/MONSTERS; RACE/POLITICS; SYMPATHETIC MONSTER; POSTHUMAN

Critical Summary: “The Year of the Rat” tells of college students who are drafted from over-crowded accommodation to hunt rapidly evolving, genetically-engineered rats, which have escaped from the laboratories where they were bred for foreign export. Once a member of the Rodent-Control Force, as it is known, is discharged from service, they are guaranteed a good job by the government. These rats were given an artificial limit on their breeding capacity: only 10 percent of newborn rats would be female. They circumvent this limitation in various ways, including developing birthing rooms and even somehow accomplishing male pregnancy, though the latter is highly likely to fail because the male bodies cannot sustain fetuses. While the narrator recounts his time in service fighting against the rats, conflicts and friendships arise and form within the platoon of soldiers as well. The narrator tells of battles with rats, though they’re stylized more as slaughters against them, as the rats, while larger and smarter than normal rats, are still simple and unevolved in comparison to humans. Competition arises in the platoon to see who can collect the most rat tails, which is their way of determining how many kills each soldier has. Buried beneath arguments over evolution and perspective is a satire of China’s drive towards modernization, in which supposedly highly-educated students are packed like ants into squalid dormitories, and good for little more than hunting rodents with spears. The connection to Frankenstein is somewhat obvious: man advances evolution in rats, and the rats escape in an effort to free themselves from man. Whether or not the rats are monsters, per se, is up for debate, and is a constant theme throughout the story. To the humans, the rats are the enemy, an abomination that got out of control and must now be eliminated. To the rats, the humans are genocidal and ruthless, and actively trying to ruin their way of life, if it can be called that. It is up to the reader to decide who the monster is: the humans who created the rats, the rats who escaped, or the soldiers who kill the rats mercilessly when ordered to do so.

Administrative Notes: Ryan Peters, CSUF; Annette Morrison, CSUF (editing)