Character Analysis
Rabbit is kind of like the internet itself: a little childish, very clever, interested in the next big thing, and very interested in finding out secrets.
Maybe that's why we suspect Rabbit is actually an artificial intelligence—although we'll never really know for sure. Here's what we do know about Rabbit:
Silly Rabbit—Tricks Are For Kids
He/she/it is (or "they are") very skilled at manipulating, er, guiding people without coming right out and telling them what to do. Rabbit describes himself as a "gentle cloud of coincidence" (9.40), which seems true in some areas.
For instance, he needs to contact Robert and he's chosen graduate student Zulfikar Sharif as a go-between. But he doesn't just go to Zulfi; instead, he goes to Miri disguised as a little girl and suggests to Miri that her grandfather might be helped by, say, a graduate student (10.30). Then when Miri searches for a graduate student… well, how do we know that Rabbit isn't there, too, helping to tweak the search results?
So if Rabbit is so good at doing things behind the scene, why does he ever come out? Braun's analysts have something of an answer: they think that Rabbit has a "childish ego" (their words, not ours) and that he "couldn't pass up a chance to show off" (27.60). And this is an area where we have to agree with the analysts.
Vaz would never take the risks that Rabbit does, but Rabbit has to show off a little. For instance, when Rabbit is pretending to be a little girl in the virtual meeting with Miri, the little girl says, "I'm all ears"—and then she grows "wiggly rabbit ears" (10.20). Of course Miri doesn't know what that means. But it is a little show-offy: Rabbit's basically signing his name here.
He also can't resist showing off and dropping clues in front of Alfred and the other spies. And all because it's amusing to him to drop clues that other people don't pick up:
It was amusing that despite the carrot greens and all the other generous clues Rabbit had provided, Alfred & Co had not realized whence his powers came, or how great they were. (25.29)
There's no good reason for Rabbit to drop clues or show how powerful he is, as he does when he drops into Alfred's secret office. But that's just the kind of guy/girl/thing/committee Rabbit is—he can't pass up a chance to show off his "power."
No, Seriously: Tricks Are Super Childish
You know how the internet will be all over a particular cat video (Grumpy Cat, we are looking at you) and then a few days later, everyone will be talking about a totally different cat video?
Rabbit is a little like that—he has the attention span of a goldfish. When he gets hired to make a diversion so that the Elder Cabal can break into the UCSD biotech labs, everyone else really cares about the lab break-in. But Rabbit cares about the diversion at the library just as much—or maybe more:
His riot fully outclassed the espionage hugger-mugger it was designed to protect. (25.29)
The library riot doesn't really matter, but Rabbit is having fun (25.28). Now, we can't blame him exactly—it is pretty cool to see robots fighting while digitally made to look like different fantasy creatures. But it does show that Rabbit is a little distractible.
He's also just kind of childish, as Braun's analysts note. For instance, when he wrecks Alfred's plans to take over the world via mind control, Rabbit responds to the victory with:
- A reminder that this is vengeance: "See that, Alfred? It doesn't pay to cross the Rabbit!"
- Triumphant self-centeredness: "That was a near thing, but I won! I mean, we saved mankind" (28.38).
- And a little showing off for good measure—this time, with an impression of the Wicked Witch of the West dissolving: "The creature spun around, giving out melodramatic moans, its body dissolving around it" (28.39).
We're not saying that Rabbit is wrong to be proud of beating Alfred at this moment. We're only saying that someone who thinks "I won. I mean, we saved mankind" clearly shows what he cares most about—and it's not mankind. And why should Rabbit care about mankind—especially if Rabbit's real identity is as an artificial intelligence program that is roaming free in the interwebs.
In fact, Rabbit cares so little about mankind that, when he discovers Alfred's secret, his next idea is "how do I get me some of that?" At first, he does think about calling in the cops/army because mind control is a terribly powerful thing to have, but then he comes to a different conclusion: "that same power in my hands ... well, that could be glorious fun!" (25.40).
This is Rabbit again being childish and self-centered. (Though we'll confess: the idea of mind control technology does sound fun—as long we're the ones using it.)
Why Rabbit, Anyhow?
If you were a super-powerful artificial intelligence, able to manipulate people, and always showing off, would you choose to look like a rabbit? We wouldn't (we'd be an eagle riding a lightning bolt, yeah!), but we have some ideas why Rabbit does look like a rabbit. Mostly, it comes down to famous cultural/literary bunnies who are also tricksy: Bugs Bunny, Brer Rabbit, and the White Rabbit.
Rabbit's Timeline