Comments on: From the archives: Meteorological Symbolism of the Plow

By: Kanna-Chan

Kanna-Chan — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 07:01:48 +0000

If you had actually read the book, the reason they move in the spring is because of the plowing, planting, and harvesting, which make the garden too dangerous. They move back to the garden after harvest because there is the extra food laying around(whatever is dropped, or left in the ground still growing.)

By: Beka

Beka — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 08:54:36 +0000

Or you could rewatch the film – the plow has come EARLIER THAN USUAL this year, not giving the denizens of the field a chance to move beforehand, and Timmy is sick, which means that the usual move can’t take place, leading to a tizzy, for Mrs. Brisby, at any rate.

Though it’s not mentioned in the film, I always understood part of the book canon to be unstated – this is their winter home – closer to the house, and more likely to have little castoffs where the animals can get them in the hard months. They can’t make the journey to their summer home because of Timmy’s illness.

By: Rob Northrup

Rob Northrup — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 14:03:20 +0000

Another explanation could be that farmers rotate crops and sometimes let fields go fallow for strategic reasons. I haven’t watched this cartoon lately, but the animals might have moved away from the plow one year to a field that wasn’t plowed, only to discover that the farmer decided to plow the safe field next year, or bought some neighboring land which he plowed for the first time.

By: AK-00

AK-00 — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 23:37:23 +0000

Except that they’re mice, with the attendant short lifespan and swift reproductive cycle. From their perspective, the coming of the plough might be a rare or even freak occurrence, like humans who live around volcanoes, or in areas prone to earthquakes or tornadoes.