Ralph S. Mouse

Ryan is the son of the Mountain View Inn’s housekeeper, Mrs. Bramble, and he and his mother live at the inn. Ryan is new to town, and living in a ski resort makes him even more isolated, so he befriends Ralph, the tiny mouse who lives under the grandfather clock. While his mother works, Ryan watches a lot of television and especially enjoys motorcycle and car stunt shows. Ralph often joins him to watch television since he shares a love for fast vehicles. When Ralph becomes desperate to escape the inn to save his family and Matt’s job, he begs Ryan to smuggle him and his motorcycle into school. Ralph assumes the school will be a haven, but when Ryan’s classmates and teacher discover Ralph hiding in Ryan’s pocket, the mouse becomes the new class pet and finds himself in an anxiety-inducing situation. Instead of saving Ralph from the ordeal, Ryan goes along with the mouse exhibit plan to gain favor among his new classmates. Making the situation even more stressful, Ryan withholds Ralph’s motorcycle until he completes the mouse maze and proves his intelligence.

Ryan doesn’t have many friends, though he mentions his classmate Brad who rides motocross and whose father drives a tow truck. At school, the teacher pairs Ryan and Brad together to construct the maze, but they disagree on the design. When Ralph beats the maze by climbing across the top, Brad and Ryan come to blows, and though no one is hurt, Ralph’s motorcycle is destroyed in the melee. The two boys eventually make amends and come to a better understanding of one another. Ralph decides that enduring the maze and losing his beloved motorcycle are worth Ryan making a friend: “Because of him, two boys had become friends. Ralph felt that he had done a good deed in a troubled world” (154). Ryan represents the loneliness and isolation a child can experience and the beauty of finding friendship where one least expects it.

Matt, an older man, is the caretaker of the Mountain View Inn. Matt is also the only adult with whom Ralph can communicate. Since Ralph explains that he can only speak to lonely children, it can be inferred that Matt is a loner and has a childlike quality. Matt looks out for Ralph and the other mice who live in the inn. Unlike other adults, Matt views animals as creatures who deserve care, and understands that Ralph is a being with feelings and needs. This attitude puts Matt at odds with his boss, Mr. Minch, who runs the inn. When Mr. Minch discovers mouse droppings in the lobby—the result of Matt letting the mice roam free—he not only reprimands Matt for not doing his job properly but also tasks him with exterminating all mice in the inn. Matt, ever loyal, takes the blame for Ralph and his relatives’ behavior, which makes Ralph feel profoundly guilty. Indeed, Matt’s conflict with Mr. Minch is the inciting incident that leads Ralph to leave the inn and seek refuge at the school. Ralph never stops thinking of Matt or hoping the kind man has kept his job. Ralph’s plan works, and when he returns to the inn, Matt is there waiting for him. Matt’s relationship with Ralph and his relatives symbolizes the cooperation that can exist between humans and the natural world.

Brad is Ryan’s classmate and becomes his rival in the narrative. Ryan goes from idolizing his motocross-riding classmate to fighting with him over the mouse maze design. While the rest of the students in Room 5 enthusiastically participate in the mouse exhibit, Brad maintains an air of smug indifference and repeatedly claims that Ralph can’t be as intelligent as Ryan claims. Though Ryan and Brad assume they have nothing in common, Ralph understands that they are both lonely and in need of a friend. When Ralph finally speaks to Brad, sensing he is “exactly the sort of boy who could understand a mouse who rode a motorcycle” (111), he learns that the young boy has been through a difficult time with his family. Through Ralph’s encouragement (and Miss K’s insistence on peaceful conflict resolution), Brad and Ryan become better acquainted. They bond over their shared struggles with family and their secret knowledge of Ralph, becoming friends and later brothers. Brad’s character exemplifies the truth one can’t judge a person just by their outward personality, as they may be wrestling with private challenges and pain.