# What does the rat symbolize in Banksy's work? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 7, 2018, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-rat-symbolize-in-banksys-work/822589 "2018-10-07T00:26:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2018, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-rat-symbolize-in-banksys-work/822589/1 "2018-10-07T00:26:16Z")
Banksy uses rats in several works. Google Banksy rat for many examples. Image has several, gangster rat, radar rat, rat girl etc. Banksy likes drawing them. I’m out of bed is my favorite. [https://goo.gl/images/dpcp3f](https://goo.gl/images/dpcp3f) He’s not American and I think I’m missing something in his work. The only connection that I know is horrible and racist against the Jewish people. What is Banksy symbolizing? ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2018, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-rat-symbolize-in-banksys-work/822589/2 "2018-10-07T00:55:56Z")
It’s an anagram for “art”. Is your mind sufficiently blown? ---
**Author:** ![Springtime\_for\_Spacers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Springtime\_for\_Spacers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Springtime_for_Spacers)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2018, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-rat-symbolize-in-banksys-work/822589/3 "2018-10-07T00:57:03Z")
A rat is a rat is a rat. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2018, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-rat-symbolize-in-banksys-work/822589/4 "2018-10-07T01:03:51Z")
Rats are universally loathed and feared. I’m dealing with one now in my house. I have traps everywhere. Seems likely that Banksy is symbolizing or parodying something. Anyhow, they are thought provoking images. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2018, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-rat-symbolize-in-banksys-work/822589/5 "2018-10-07T01:10:04Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Rats are universally loathed and feared. I’m dealing with one now in my house. I have traps everywhere. You loathe and fear them. Some keep them around as adorable pets. [Is your mind sufficiently blown? 🙂] ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2018, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-rat-symbolize-in-banksys-work/822589/6 "2018-10-07T01:14:32Z")
Tell that to my wife. 😉 I just thought maybe there was a European reference that I missed. Never hurts to ask. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2018, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-rat-symbolize-in-banksys-work/822589/7 "2018-10-07T01:57:37Z")
A rat is a rat is a rat. Except when it’s not. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2018, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-rat-symbolize-in-banksys-work/822589/8 "2018-10-07T02:03:16Z")
“The rat symbolizes obviousness” - Ralph Wiggum ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2018, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-rat-symbolize-in-banksys-work/822589/9 "2018-10-07T02:04:15Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > He’s not American cite? ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2018, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-rat-symbolize-in-banksys-work/822589/10 "2018-10-07T02:14:19Z")
Banksy’s identity isn’t known. His street work began in the Bristol underground scene. I’d guess he’s British. > **[Bristol underground scene](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bristol_underground_scene)** > > The Bristol underground scene a cultural movement in Bristol beginning in the early 1980s. The scene was born out of a lack of mainstream clubs catering for the emergence of hip hop music, with street and underground parties a mainstay. Crews formed playing hip hop in disused venues with sound systems borrowed from the reggae scene: City Rockers, 2 Bad, 2 Tuff, KC Rock, UD4, FBI, Dirty Den, Juice Crew, Rene & Bacus, Soul Twins, KC Rock, Fresh 4, and The Wild Bunch were among them. These names ... ---
**Author:** ![Banksiaman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banksiaman/32/3334_2.png) [@Banksiaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banksiaman)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2018, 7:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-rat-symbolize-in-banksys-work/822589/11 "2018-10-07T07:08:51Z")
Some cartoonists use a little rat or beastie across their work which voices the common person while all of the action is happening front of frame. If the analogy holds, the rat contributes moral perspective. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2018, 8:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-rat-symbolize-in-banksys-work/822589/12 "2018-10-07T08:34:55Z")
Banksy uses them because [his primary influence](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blek_le_Rat) uses them. And **Riemann** was correct: > [@](#): > > Blek began his artwork in 1981, painting stencils of rats on the walls of Paris streets. He described the rat as “the only free animal in the city”, and one which “spreads the plague everywhere, just like street art”. His name originates from the comic book Blek le Roc, using “rat” as an anagram for “art”. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2018, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-rat-symbolize-in-banksys-work/822589/13 "2018-10-07T13:04:31Z")
It would make sense that a street artist working in dark spaces like alleys at night would identify with rats. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2018, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-rat-symbolize-in-banksys-work/822589/14 "2018-10-07T13:51:30Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > Banksy uses them because [his primary influence](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blek_le_Rat) uses them. And **Riemann** was correct: Thank you. I had wondered about this for several years. ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2018, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-rat-symbolize-in-banksys-work/822589/15 "2018-10-07T15:30:30Z")
> [@Springtime\_for\_Spacers](#): > > A rat is a rat is a rat. Sometimes a rat is just a rat. ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2018, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-rat-symbolize-in-banksys-work/822589/16 "2018-10-07T15:38:47Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Banksy’s identity isn’t known. > > His street work began in the Bristol underground scene. I’d guess he’s British. > [Bristol underground scene - Wikipedia](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bristol_underground_scene) There’s strong evidence he’s Robin Gunningham. > **[Banksy the graffiti artist unmasked as a former public schoolboy](https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1034538/Graffiti-artist-Banksy-unmasked---public-schoolboy-middle-class-suburbia.html)** > > For years the identity of art’s most notorious renegade has been a closely guarded secret - but a Mail on Sunday investigation suggests he's really a nice middle-class boy called Robin.