Watership Down summary and theme
They set off at night through dangerous woods. In the
morning, they come to a small river but manage to swim across it. Hazel
searches ahead and finds a field of beans where they can rest and hide. Late
that night, they cross a road and enter a thick heather that slows their
travel. Some rabbits want to start a new warren there, but Hazel convinces them
to keep moving.
The next morning, they come upon a beautiful, lush meadow and
begin digging burrows. A large, healthy rabbit visits and invites them to join
his nearby warren, which is huge, has plenty of room for newcomers, and gets
lots of free food from a farmer. Though friendly, the residents seem
unaccountably sad. Fiver senses danger, but the other newcomers think it’s a
wonderful place until Bigwig gets caught in a snare. They manage to free him
and promptly leave.
The rabbits trek for two more days and arrive at last at the
steep face of Watership Down. They climb to the top, where they find a stand of
trees under which they begin to dig burrows.
Captain Holly appears, injured and half insane. The group
brings him in, along with a second refugee, Bluebell. Holly recovers and
describes the destruction of the old warren: Humans killed the rabbits with
poison gas and gunshots, then plowed over the burrows.
The group continues digging new burrows and tunnels. At
night, Dandelion and Bluebell tell stories of the great rabbit El-ahrairah and
his exploits and tricks. One day, Hazel rescues a mouse from a hawk, and the
mice return the favor by telling the rabbits of a fine place for grazing. Hazel
also rescues a gull named Kehaar with a broken wing. It recuperates in the
burrows and thanks them by finding, from the air, a large warren and a farm
hutch, both with does for Hazel’s rabbits.
Hazel sends Holly and a team to the large, overcrowded warren.
They offer to take some does but instead are arrested and forced into
servitude. They trick their guards, escape, and return to Watership but without
does. Meanwhile, Hazel and a small group try to free four rabbits who live in
the farm hutch; they manage to liberate three, including two females. In the
process, though, Hazel gets shot. The others believe he’s dead, but Fiver
dreams his brother still lives, and he finds Hazel hiding in a drainpipe. Hazel
recovers and announces a second expedition to Efrafa.
The group hides near the warren while Bigwig presents himself
to its leader, the powerful tyrant Woundwort, and gets hired as an Owsla guard.
Inside, he meets a doe, Hyzenthlay, who agrees to help him escape with several
females. They make a break for it just as a tremendous thunderstorm breaks.
Woundwort pursues them to a river, where the escapees board a small boat. Hazel
gnaws through the dock line, and the boat floats away.
The rabbits leave the boat and begin their journey to
Watership. An Efrafa patrol follows them and locates their warren. Woundwort
brings squads of soldiers to retake the does, but the defenders blockade the
burrow entrances while Hazel sets loose a dog from a nearby farm. It chases Blackberry
and Dandelion up the hill to the Watership warren, where it promptly attacks
Woundwort’s soldiers. The survivors scatter; Woundwort is never found.
The Watership warren, now at peace, thrives and produces many
litters. Hazel and the Efrafans agree to start a new warren midway between them
that’s filled with rabbits from both places. Hazel lives to a ripe old age, his
exploits now enshrined as new stories about the rabbits’ religious icon
El-ahrairah.
Watership Down Character Analysis
HAZEL
Hazel is the chief protagonist of the story. Though not very
large for a yearling, he’s confident, good-natured, and a natural leader. His
plans for improving his rabbits’ fortunes have a daring quality, but somehow
they always work out. Smart and respectful toward others, Hazel often plays the
diplomat to smooth over conflicts, and he knows how to use each rabbit’s
abilities to benefit the group. His overriding purpose is to build a healthy,
robust warren with thriving members, focusing on their happiness rather than his
power. He learns quickly and effectively applies his experience to the warren’s
problems.
As he gains experience and achieves great things for his
rabbits, he acquires the title “Hazel-rah,” or Prince Hazel. His exploits take
on lives of their own and quickly enter rabbit lore, blending into the stream
of stories about the legendary El-ahrairah. Despite this, Hazel is basically an
ordinary rabbit with good common sense and strong social skills. He’s an
example of how an ordinary member of a larger can rise to greatness if he keeps
his wits about him, focuses on helping others, remains humble, and stays true
to his dreams.
BIGWIG
Large, impulsive, and friendly but inclined toward fighting,
Bigwig is a member of the Threarah’s Owsla who defects to Hazel’s group and
helps them escape the destruction of their warren. A loyal and daring member of
the Watership Down group, and the first member of Hazel’s informal Owsla,
Bigwig engineers the escape of several does from the dangerously repressive
Efrafa warren, and he defeats the larger rabbit Woundwort in combat while
defending Hazel’s warren. Bigwig is an object lesson in being big, brave, and
feisty while also being fair-minded and considerate of others.
FIVER
The fifth and smallest of the litter he shared with Hazel,
Fiver is a worrier. Acutely alert to any sign of danger, he’s the first to
recognize a looming disaster for the Threarah’s warren, and he later warns the
escapees to avoid Cowslip’s warren because it’s merely an alluring death trap.
Fiver possesses a gift of prophecy, and he often tests the
others’ patience with his strange, priest-like predictions of doom. Hazel,
though, trusts and defends him, with good cause: Fiver’s predictions always
come true. His public prediction of the warren’s victory over Woundwort is
itself a partial cause of that victory when it spooks the invaders. He’s best
understood by his brother, Hazel, and by his mate, Vilthuril, but the warren as
a whole comes to realize that, though eccentric, Fiver always has their best
interests at heart.
Because rabbits can’t count past four—anything larger is
simply “hrair—‘a lot,’ or ‘a thousand’”—Fiver’s rabbit name is Hrairoo, which
means “Little Thousand,” or the runt of a large litter (10 fn.). His is the
type of unusually talented mind often rejected by others, but that benefits
those who respect him.
WOUNDWORT
General Woundwort is the Efrafa warren’s dictator and the
story's chief antagonist. Large, deadly, and ruthless, he rules with an iron
grip and works continually to increase his control over the other rabbits.
Enraged when Bigwig escapes with several does, Woundwort pursues them but
underestimates Watership warren’s true strengths and fails to conquer them. He
is last seen fighting the dog brought against him by Hazel’s team: “He was a
fighting animal—fierce as a rat or a dog. He fought because he actually felt
safer fighting than running” (607).
More of a force of nature than a rabbit, Woundwort represents
the mania of leaders who become tyrants. His approach is the opposite of
Hazel’s, who’d rather cooperate than fight and who wins through clever tactics
instead of brute force.
HYZENTHLAY
One of the does who wants to leave Efrafa, Hyzenthlay—“fur
shining like dew” in Lapine (618)—conspires with Bigwig and several other does
to escape from their imprisoning warren. She’s smart, resourceful,
clear-headed, and patient. She also shares some of Fiver’s psychic abilities.
Hazel recognizes her virtues, and they become mating partners. (In the book’s
sequel, Tales from Watership Down, she becomes co-leader of the warren.)
Hyzenthlay represents the deep, hidden wisdom and intelligence of the does—who,
too often, are disregarded by the bucks and must struggle to communicate with
them and make contributions to the group.
WATERSHIP DOWN THEMES
A GREAT
LEADER AND A GREAT TEAM
Great teams need great leaders, but they also need great
members who make the most of their abilities. Hazel rewards each of his
rabbit’s contributions, with the result that they form a fiercely loyal and
cooperative team.
The tone is set by Hazel, who makes it clear that his purpose
is to protect and enhance his group. Early on, after they’ve come through some
tough challenges, he realizes how good his followers are: “There was no more
questioning of Bigwig’s strength, Fiver’s insight, Blackberry’s wits,” or his
own ability as a leader (161).
Hazel makes a point of building on the strengths of these and
other members of his group. When he returns from being wounded by a farmer’s
gun, Hazel makes a point of chatting with everyone he can at Watership: “Hazel
talked to almost all the rabbits” (329). He’s interested in everyone’s
viewpoints and wants their voices heard.
His brother Fiver chafes when his eccentric predictions get
rejected by other rabbits. Hazel listens and encourages Fiver’s strange genius,
and the young rabbit thrives, his prophecies becoming more focused, clear, and
useful to the group—which, like Hazel, comes to appreciate their value.
Bigwig joins the group and challenges Hazel’s leadership.
Hazel respects Bigwig’s power and determination, and he gives the rabbit wide
latitude to exercise his strengths. This suits Bigwig, who bows to Hazel’s
superior leadership and becomes one of his best officers.
Blackberry, like Fiver, is very smart, but most leaders would
reject his innovations as improper for rabbits. Hazel instead listens and
usually accepts Blackberry’s new ideas. Thus encouraged, Blackberry exercises
his brain regularly on behalf of the group, and many of their best successes
stem directly from his creative solutions to problems.
Holly opposes Hazel’s group at first but joins them later. He
learns that Hazel can set the past aside and welcome him as a ranking group
member. Thus respected, Holly risks himself many times on behalf of his new
leader.
Hazel knows a gift when he sees one, and the injured Kehaar
is one such present. The bird has hygienic habits that disgust the rabbits, but
Hazel sets that aside and nurtures the bird, who rewards him by becoming a
friend and ally in both peace and war.
Bluebell, always ready with a quip, can be annoying at times,
but Hazel sees past this to the rabbit’s essential good nature and his ability
to cheer up the others during stressful times. Bluebell blossoms under Hazel’s
leadership and helps keep the warren from panicking during the Efrafan attack.
Dandelion similarly has a way with words: His stories about El-ahrairah
enthrall the group and keep it entertained on long nights. Hazel quietly
curates Dandelion’s stories, subtly guiding him toward telling the right one at
the right time. In this way, Dandelion’s skill flourishes.
Blackavar springs back to life under Hazel’s leadership, and Silver,
Hawkbit, and Buckthorn become, like the others, fiercely loyal to the warren
and its leader. Hyzenthlay joins them, and Hazel quickly recognizes her intelligent
wisdom and partners with her.
Each of these appreciates Hazel’s respect for them, and each
pays him back with great devotion and their finest work. They know what they’re
good at, and this prevents them from fighting each other; instead, they
coordinate their skills and build themselves into an unstoppable team. Without
Hazel, their efforts might go nowhere; with him, their strengths grow, and they
work effectively with one another to create remarkable results.
THREE
OPPRESSIONS, ONE FREEDOM
Hazel’s rabbits interact with three warrens, each beset by a
different form of oppression. Each teaches them a lesson, and each reminds them
of the value, despite the risks, of an open and free life. A fourth warren,
their own on Watership Down, transcends the usual limits and offers them a
better way.
The first oppression springs from bureaucratic corruption.
The Threarah’s warren is run efficiently, but it’s also corrupt, the officers
taking all the best resources for themselves. The Threarah has a bureaucratic
mind: He’s smart but rule-bound. He brooks no dissension and won’t let rabbits
leave without his say-so. Hazel and Fiver fail to convince the Threarah of the
coming danger, and they must defy his Owsla and escape. Theirs is the right
move, as those who stay behind and follow the rules quickly die at the hands of
men who destroy the burrows to make way for human housing.
The second oppression involves a devil’s bargain. Hazel’s group meets Cowslip’s warren, whose rabbits are large and healthy, safe from predators, sheltered in a large and comfortable set of burrows, yet strangely sad. They enjoy their lush lifestyle at the price of their lives, for the warren is maintained by a farmer who harvests rabbits at will for his dinner. Again Hazel’s group must escape, lest it become ensnared—literally—in the warren’s luxurious death trap, as nearly happens to Bigwig. The allure of false safety is too strong for Cowslip’s rabbits, though, and among them only Strawberry breaks free and escapes from the place’s hypnotic appeal.
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