The Mouse and the Motorcycle

Keith visits the Mountain View Inn with his parents, where he meets a talking mouse, Ralph, and lets him ride his toy motorcycle. Keith’s fantastical experiences with his mouse friend develop the theme of The Magic of Childhood. As a supporting protagonist in the story, Keith acts as Ralph’s co-conspirator, helping him with motorcycle riding and bringing food for his family. When Ralph loses the motorcycle, Keith forgives him because he, too, has made similar mistakes. When Keith becomes ill, he works with Ralph to obtain an aspirin. His desire to have more adventures than his parents allow echoes Ralph’s own yearning to venture into a world that’s dangerous for an inexperienced kid. Like Ralph, he discovers that it’s more important to be good to others than to use them for entertainment. They grow up together as they navigate the problems their secret friendship creates.

Keith’s parents are good people who love and care about their son. Like most couples, they don’t agree on everything. However, they compromise about staying at the run-down Mountain View Inn, which is cheap enough to let them order a separate room for Keith so he can have some privacy. This allows Keith to share secret adventures with a mouse who lives in the wall of the room.

The anti-mice sentiments Mrs. Gridley expresses help shape the theme of The Challenge of Secret Friendships. Mrs. Gridley worries correctly that the hotel has mice, and she becomes an obstacle to Keith and Ralph, who must hide Ralph and his mouse family from her and from the hotel management. The Gridley name suggests a grid on which they organize their lives and vacations. Keith must conform to the grid, and his friendship with a mouse challenges those limits.

Matt is the 60-year-old caretaker, bellhop, and security guard at the Mountain View Inn. He’s seen it all, yet he retains sympathy for children and animals. Of the adults, he is the only one who knows the mice can talk, and he helps Ralph now and then. In some respects, Matt expresses the author’s wisdom: He’s a calm, reassuring presence who seems to say that no matter how weird things can get, in the end, all will be well.

Ralph’s mother is a worrier who frets constantly about her oldest son’s adventurous streak. Ralph’s father died from mishandling an aspirin pill, and an uncle ended up inside an owl, so she has reason for her fears. Ralph befriends a human, Keith, which adds to her terrors until Ralph explains that the boy is the one who brings them extra food. Ralph’s mother comes to accept and even defend Keith, which shows that she undergoes her own character growth. She also comes to trust and respect Ralph, and she eventually permits him to explore the ground floor. 

Ralph’s Uncle Lester is a clever mouse in that he has a hole in the housekeeper’s office to collect their donut crumbs. He is a bit of a loudmouth and blabs to the other mice about Ralph’s motorcycle driving, which causes Ralph’s many younger brothers and sisters to beg him for rides he can’t give them. Lester may be a blowhard, but he’s also a coward who balks at taking the risk of finding an aspirin for Keith, a risk Ralph is fully prepared to assume. In the end, Uncle Lester convinces Ralph’s mother that Ralph has become a responsible and dependable mouse.

Ralph’s Aunt Sissy feels superior because she lives in the bridal suite. However, just like the other mice, she scurries around fearful of the humans and lives on mere crumbs. Although Aunt Sissy enjoys the feasts Keith supplies the mice, she is quick to show her disdain of humans. When the mice realize Keith’s illness may impede their “room service,” Aunt Sissy remarks that they shouldn’t have relied on a human. However, after Ralph saves Keith, Aunt Sissy is the first to acknowledge that Ralph has matured.

Dogs are a lethal danger to mice. A small terrier resides in Room 211. The dog senses Ralph’s presence and barks at him. Ralph braves the danger and manipulates the dog, allowing Ralph’s aspirin-finding mission to succeed. The dog transforms from a danger to a tool that Ralph uses to help Keith and thereby save the resident mice. The little terrier often barks threats at Ralph, but the mouse opts not to respond. However, just like how most humans only register Ralph’s speech as “squeaks,” the humans do not understand the terrier’s words.