The Rescuers by Margery Sharp
"The Rescuers" by Margery Sharp is a whimsical children's novel that tells the adventurous tale of three mice—Bernard, Miss Bianca, and Nils—as they embark on a daring mission to rescue a prisoner from the ominous Black Castle. The story revolves around the Prisoners' Aid Society, an organization dedicated to helping those in captivity. Bernard, a modest mouse, seeks the assistance of Miss Bianca, a sophisticated mouse living a life of luxury, to leverage her unique travel opportunities. Together with Nils, they navigate a series of humorous and clever scenarios, including outsmarting a fierce cat named Mamelouk.
Set against a backdrop of a world where mice live parallel lives to humans, the narrative highlights themes of bravery, companionship, and the contrast between humble beginnings and aristocratic lifestyles. The book is recognized as part of a tradition in children's literature that explores the dynamics between smaller beings and their larger counterparts, capturing the charm and ingenuity of diminutive creatures. Initially published for adults, the story quickly became a cherished family classic and inspired sequels that continued the escapades of its beloved characters. Disney's adaptations, while based on the original concept, diverge from Sharp's storytelling, showcasing the enduring popularity of her imaginative creations.
The Rescuers by Margery Sharp
First published: 1959; illustrated
Subjects: Animals and friendship
Type of work: Novel
Type of plot: Adventure tale and fantasy
Time of work: The present
Recommended Ages: 10-13
Locale: England
Principal Characters:
Miss Bianca , a vain but plucky mouse with absurdly aristocratic mannersBernard , an unassuming but brave mouse of humble stationNils , a Norwegian seafaring mouseMadam Chairwoman , the leader of the mice’s Prisoner’s Aid SocietyThe prisoner , a Norwegian poetThe head jailer , a brutish man in charge of the Black CastleMamelouk , the head jailer’s fierce cat
Form and Content
Margery Sharp’s The Rescuers is the story of three mice who daringly save a prisoner from the dreaded Black Castle. The heroes are representatives of the Prisoners’ Aid Society, a community of mice whose mission is to console and rescue prisoners. Bernard, a humble mouse who lives in the pantry of a diplomatic embassy, is dispatched by the society to recruit the beautiful and aristocratic mouse Miss Bianca for the mission to the Black Castle. As a pet of the ambassador’s son, Miss Bianca frequently travels in the official diplomatic bag and can therefore journey to Norway to find a mouse who can communicate with the imprisoned poet, who is also Norwegian. Although reluctant to forsake her pampered life in a gilded cage, called the Porcelain Pagoda, Miss Bianca is flattered by Bernard’s admiration and agrees to help.
In Norway, Miss Bianca encounters a friendly crowd of sailor mice in the local embassy’s pantry. One of them, Nils, agrees to join the mission, and Miss Bianca offers personally to show him the way back by boat to the Prisoners’ Aid Society, where he is to join Bernard. Unwilling to admit that she has no idea how to get back there herself, Miss Bianca draws a picture of a garden party hat, which Nils interprets as a map. Through sheer good luck, they eventually find their way back to the society’s Moot-House and from there embark on the trip to the Black Castle.
A jolly journey in a provision wagon brings them to their destination, where they establish themselves in a mouse hole in the room of the head jailer. While Nils and Bernard explore the castle, Miss Bianca learns from Mamelouk, the head jailer’s fierce cat, that the jailers indulge in a huge feast on New Year’s Eve, after which they all sleep in very late. Even the cat intends to let down his guard, as he takes pride in gorging himself on this occasion.
Nils discovers that the river rushing by the base of the castle has dislodged some stones that had been used to block off an old water gate. Exploring further, he and Bernard find that the water gate leads to a secret passageway to the prison cells. Before they can communicate this discovery to Miss Bianca, however, Mamelouk succeeds in trapping them under his paw. Miss Bianca’s snobbish teasing distracts the cat and enables the two mice to escape. The following night is New Year’s Eve, and the three intrepid mice steal the head jailer’s key while he is asleep after the feast. A raft, fortuitously tied up just outside the old water gate, enables them to return to the Prisoners’ Aid Society with the prisoner.
On their return, the mice are decorated with medals, and the poet, after an affecting leave-taking from his rescuers, departs for his home. Although tempted to accept Bernard’s offer of marriage, Miss Bianca resumes her life of companionship with the ambassador’s son in the comfortable surroundings of the Porcelain Pagoda.
Critical Context
The Rescuers is part of a strong tradition of miniaturism in children’s literature. Like other classics of this subgenre, such as Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels (1726), E. B. White’s Stuart Little (1945), and Mary Norton’s The Borrowers (1952), The Rescuers sympathetically reflects children’s physically and psychologically weaker position in relationship to adults. Like Norton’s stories of elflike people who live in the hidden crannies of a human’s mansion, it expresses a purely concrete fascination with the material aspects of a small creature’s life: the lovingly decorated mouse holes and large objects ingeniously converted for small folks’ use. Unlike the great classics of miniaturism, however, The Rescuers eschews biting social satire and philosophical reflections on issues such as the nature of existence and the meaning of life, remaining primarily a comedy of manners and a literary parody.
Initially published as an adult title, The Rescuers quickly came to be regarded as a family classic, winning a commendation from the British Library Association in 1959. Margery Sharp continued the adventures of the Prisoners’ Aid Society in equally imaginative and witty sequels. Miss Bianca and Bernard remain the protagonists throughout the series, and various other characters are introduced as assistants on each new rescue mission. The Walt Disney films The Rescuers (1977) and The Rescuers Down Under (1991) are based on the characters and ideas found in the series, but they do not replicate Sharp’s stories.