A salient characteristic of Miguel Delibes' novels is the tone of religious faith and moral values they reflect. While some of his works clearly depict moral corruption and vice, the author invariably presents basic religious ethics as the desirable way of life. Such is the case, for example in Mi idolatrado hijo Sisí. In spite of the apparent tone of pessimism in the novel, the reader is left with the distinct impression that many of the unfortunate incidents and the accompanying unhappiness could have been avoided if the characters had conformed to the religious teaching of their social milieu.

This religious ideology, a basic characteristic of each of Delibes' works, is perhaps nowhere more clearly stated than in Las ratas, the short novel of Nini and his life in a small Castilian village. The author early intimates the religious nature of the character portrayal of his child protagonist, el Nini, by the use of a verse from the Bible as a sort of preface…. With [a] quotation from the eleventh chapter of Mark the novelist introduces to the reader one of his most poignant child creations. (p. 492)

In his identification of el Nini with all forms of nature, Delibes is revealing something of a mystic concept of life, such as one finds among the early mystic poets.

Since Nini identified so closely with nature, he was repulsed by the destruction of life in any form. Although el abuelo Ramón hunted rabbits and el Tío Ratero mice, the child knew that they killed only of necessity; it was their way of earning a livelihood. Matías Celemín, el Furtivo, on the other hand, hunting at night and in the snow, aroused a feeling of hatred and repugnance in el Nini, who knew instinctively that one of the moral precepts of man is that "thou shalt not kill."

Although Nini was repulsed by the wanton destruction of life, dying, to him, was as much a part of nature as is any other phenomenon of existence. Death, one of the major themes of Delibes, plays a prominent part in most of his novels, and the children, particularly Pedro in La sombra del ciprés es alargada and Daniel in El camino, are greatly affected by the death of a loved one. However, Nini, who symbolizes Christian faith, is not distressed by the death of human beings but accepts it in the natural course of events. (p. 493)

In spite of his docile nature, Nini was not without righteous indignation. He, like Jesus, who overthrew the tables of the money changers in the Temple, sometimes felt impelled to act upon his conviction of right and wrong. This is revealed in an incident with Columba, el Justo's wife. During a conversation with the boy, la Columba had slapped him. That night Nini poured gasoline into her well. He did this, not as a mischievous prank as Daniel and his friends in El camino might have done, but as just retribution for her having slapped him. The act reveals his role as administrator of justice and punishment, a power reserved for the gods. (p. 494)

Apparently Delibes' purpose in writing Las ratas is to epitomize in his child protagonist the true essence of Christian living. While most of the children portrayed by Delibes in his novels evince varying degrees of interest in religion, Nini seems to be the very personification of religious faith. Although the child makes no reference to God nor to his own spiritual convictions, the trust that others place in him and in his actions and attitudes, together with the Biblical quotation, leads to this impression. Through his actions rather than through his speech Nini comes to symbolize religious faith for the people of the village as well as for the reader. His characteristic imperturbability results not so much from a firm belief in the wisdom of God as from the fact that he himself is that divine wisdom at work among men. With this assumption one can understand the quiet, unpresuming personality of this child, whose chief aim in life seems to be that of helping others.

Nini's innate calmness when disaster threatened amazes the people of his village and again reflects his trust and resignation before nature. (pp. 494-95)

The child's serenity in the face of conditions he was powerless to prevent or change is a manifest expression of his attitude toward life…. This serene attitude of the child toward all phases of life is one indication of the author's purpose to reveal in Nini the true concept of religious faith. (p. 495)

Sensitive to the feelings of others as manifested in his general actions, the child clearly felt that each man is truly his brother's keeper. His attitude reflects the religious dictum that men should love one another, and again reinforces the religious theme of the novel.

In his character portrayal of el Nini, Delibes makes a few direct allusions to Biblical events. La Sabina says, for example, that when she saw the child talking to the men of the village, she was reminded of Jesus in the Temple, seated among the doctors. For the most part, however, the author permits the reader to see the parallelism for himself. (pp. 495-96)

Throughout the novel the author makes similar oblique references to incidents from the Bible that point out resemblance between the life of Nini and that of Jesus…. Delibes' use of these events cannot be considered a mere coincidence. The author is purposely giving a religious aspect to his character portrayal, climaxing it with Nini's final feeling of rejection by the people whom he had sought only to help. As the author ends his account, one feels that, as indicated by the Biblical quotation, the child was willing to give himself unstintingly in the service of others and that like Jesus, whose life he unconsciously emulates, he saved others, he could not save himself.

Although Las ratas is one of Delibes' shortest novels, it is one of his best works written to date. It is also the one that best reveals the writer's own religious faith. By constant allusions, both direct and indirect, by repeated parallels with Biblical incidents, and through other stylistic devices, Delibes creates a Christlike figure in the person of a village child. Through the medium of this child, with his serene personality, his self-effacement, and his perfect confidence in himself, Delibes seems to be reaffirming his faith in the eternal goodness of God and in the wisdom of choosing a life in harmony with the humanitarian sentiments which the author expressed in terms of his own religious beliefs. (pp. 496-97)