I am looking at page 25 in the hardback version. On this page, we see the first evidence of what has truly gone on in the government lab; a rat working on a jet engine is suddenly controlled by the scientist to turn, and drills into the skull of another rat. The army general is offered a chance to “play” with the controller, but instead insists on seeing the “higher animal prototypes.”
There are a few interesting things to note about this page. Artistically, this page is rather disturbing. In the first box, we see a rat turn towards another rat, and in the second we see its intent to kill it. The rat being attacked looks terrified as it drops the screw it was holding. These two boxes are made infinitely more creepy by the crazed smile in the 3rd box, where in the scientist says “Say hello to makes new best friend.” In the 4th box, we see a pained, outstretched arm of the rat as the drill sinks into its skull and blood shoots everywhere. This is the second gore scene we witness, and is a haunting juxtaposition to the first; in the first gore scene I was not as disgusted because the man being shot was seemingly some sort of gangster who had a means of defense, but in this scene, the animal is controlled against its will to murder a member of its own species. As a final note about the artistic characteristics: part of what makes this page even more effective in drawing out our emotions is that there are very few words, and they are separated by scenes of a horrified rat and blood splatters. In this way one can almost hear the silence of the room except for the spinning drill bit and the crack of the rat’s skull because there are no other auditory features being displayed in the scene.
Also, the language in this scene is incredibly disturbing. First of all, in the third box where the man says “Say hello to mans new best friend”: this is incredibly twisted because when you think of mans best friend, you think about a loyal dog, who gives you kisses when you are sick, jumps around in the yard, and wags its tale when you come home. What you do NOT think about, is a rat with a mechanically modified head piercing the skull of another animal because you moved a knob on a remote control. In a way, this makes a strong statement about animal testing in our society: by using abusing animals for our own gain, we kill the bond we have between us and them. And in our attempt to create something useful to us, we have also created something terrible at the same time.
Finally, the last line really made me sick when I read it. The general turns down a chance to “play” with the rats via controller, and instead says “You…ah…you said we could take a look at the higher animal prototypes.” First of all, by saying “higher” he implies that he regards the rats as less important, and that the dogs and cats and rabbits are better animals. However, all of the animals are treated the same, which shows the lack of humanity on behalf of the general. It also shows that the character was not disturbed by the incident he just witnessed. Again this can be taken as a statement on animal cruelty in our society. We have become so desensitized by our acceptance of animal cruelty in the major slaughterhouses and testing facilities, that when we hear about it, we tend to blow it off like its normal, or even natural, when it is no more natural than the animals in We3, with their modified bodies.
The one major question I have is: why rats? I mean, I can understand that rats are usually the first test subjects, but is there any symbolism behind the choice of rats?
Also, what does the fact that they are using a video game controller say about our society?
