Ratz seem strange to me because it’s hard to tell just how intelligent they are. They have an impishness about them, and a wee bit of spunk too, but just how aware they are of being used by the Raisin as remote vessels is really hard to pin down. They are essentially just rats that scurry about in every corner of Oddworld—natural or developed—trying to survive, and it’s this distribution that makes them perfect for the Raisin’s voyeurism.
It was an even more perfect relationship when the Raisin was going to be in a rubbish dump, where he was discarded by the Industrialists but salvaged in situ by those that revere his wisdom. Instead he was put in an underground hideout to protect him from the Industrialists, who have more of an interest in ‘quietening’ this inspirer of native fortitude (except for the Vykkers, who have more twisted ideas). In this way, the Raisin represents spiritual and political leaders whose wishes to instill peace, equality and resistance upset more militaristic, self‐interested groups who then do their best to end the teachings of these people, people like Nelson Mandela and the present Dalai Lama.
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