Gorby and the Rats was perhaps my favorite reading of HumCore this quarter (and has, arguably, the most fun title), because of how concise and entertaining it was despite the heavy sociopolitical weight it carried. The author, Obeyd Zakani, wrote from what is known as the post-Mongol period - a time of immense turmoil and chaos during which Persian poetry and literature blossomed (Rahimieh W9). His works were often satirical and critiqued religious hypocrisy, Gorby and the Rats being no exception.

In the mock-heroic-epic, Gorby is an all-powerful cat, described in the story as being monster-like, sporting a “tail… borrowed from a lion,” “golden eagle claws,” a “silver shield” for a chest and “every whisker a sword” (Zakani 13). His “paws [are] the law,” and he resides in the wine cellar, patiently waiting to feed on “well-wined rats” (Zakani 15, 17). But Gorby isn’t your typical monstrous supervillain; multiple times throughout the story, he tries to repent for what he’s done, expressing the shame and guilt he feels for feasting on these innocent rats. Despite his perceived repentance, he continues to violently slaughter the rodents until the rat King wages war against Gorby, resulting in an army of rats battling their predator and, ultimately, capturing and shackling him. Just when the rats think they’ve succeeded in overthrowing their horrifying predator, Gorby “spread his golden eagle claws” and “tore his cords asunder,” before devouring every last rat (Zakani 55). This is merely your typical game of cat-and-mouse.

As I read this section of the story, I was reminded of a similar occurrence in my hometown of San Diego, in April of 2021 following the Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality movements. Todd Gloria, the mayor of San Diego, had been an outspoken ally to the Black Lives Matter movement and openly opposed police brutality in interviews and campaigns (Gloria). However, amid protests across the city opposing police violence, Gloria proposed a bill that would increase police funding by 19 million dollars (Bowen). For activists across San Diego, this felt like ultimate betrayal, especially considering the recent wave of protests and activism for Black Lives and defunding the police and reallocating resources to more effective entities. Gorby did essentially the same thing with regards to his habit of hunting innocent rats. In both situations, a powerful and consistently oppressive force shows a moment of repentance, regret, and shame for what he’s done, then immediately reverts to those same behaviors, to an even worse extent.