Book Report Part 1

Watership Down

By: Richard Adams

            Hazel was the main character in my book.  He is a typical rabbit, brown hair, battle scars (more in the end of the book than the beginning), medium size, a natural born leader, and an amazing fighter.  Hazel of course, lives in England in the Sandle Warren.  When his little brother, Fiver has a weird dream saying that the whole clan is going to be killed, Hazel still believes him, unlike the rest of the clan.  They run away, and face many dangers and conflict on their way to a utopia, called Watership Down.

                Hazel is trusting.  He left all he had, a nice home, family, all because he believed that the whole warren would die.  In the end, he was right, but he had to trust his little brother who was an outsider in the old warren.  Most of the time, the group of rabbits that came with them wondered where they were going, and so did Hazel.  Hazel had to trust Fiver in order to get to Watership Down but to also secure the trust of the group.  He also had to trust the Cowslip Warren.  When the group stayed there for a couple weeks, the warren could have killed them at any point.  Hazel had to trust that they wouldn’t

I also think that Hazel is brave.  After the Watership Down warren captures some does from the near-by warren called Efrafa.  The whole guard comes to kill the Watership Down rabbits and take the does back.  Hazel, even though he knows he could be killed in a matter of seconds, go’s and pleads with them.   They later form a sort of treaty between the two. Another incident is in the end, he is injured from the fight, and a young human finds him.  After he is healed, he doesn’t freak out; he remains calm, even during the car ride back to Watership down.

                Hazel is extremely smart.  He comes up with plans for almost any conflict they encounter.  They have to first find a way to get out of their current warren, and find a new one, all without running into other warrens, or getting killed.  When the group goes into Cowslips warren for awhile, he finds out that the rabbits there are being fattened up with snares all around the warren.  Another example is when they are going to steal does from Efrafa.

                Hazel is smart, trusting, and brave.  Those are all things that make a good leader, which Hazel was.  He had to rely on his natural senses, his group, and most important, Fiver.

Book Report Part 2

Part 2-Symbolism

                I thought that Watership Down had some symbolism in it.  I immediately thought of Noah and the Ark.  Noah had a vision of death and he was forced to flee where he was living.  Fiver had a vision of something totally destroying the field that they lived in.  The either could stay and die, or leave and live.  Noah and Fiver both chose life.  They both had to endure the reactions from their peers.  Noah was laughed at for building a huge boat and Fiver for going and telling the Chief Rabbit about an event that seemed like it would never happen.

                They also had to survive during the time that they left home, until they found a new one.  Noah had to survive for 40 days and 40 nights on a boat, and Fiver and his group had to survive for about 4 months in fields without knowing where they were.  Noah had to trust God and the group had to trust Fiver and his visions.

                I also thought that the beginning was like the Titanic.  People thought that it was so strong that it could withstand anything.  That was Chief Rabbit thought when Fiver told him about his vision of everyone dying.  The people on the Titanic didn’t heed the warning on icebergs that night, and they paid for it.  The same happened with the warren.  Only a few survived, and only one made it too Watership Down to be reunited with the group.

                The author said that there wasn’t a deeper meaning to anything in my book.  In the very beginning there is an introduction by Richard Adams.  He tells the history of the story, and how his was his daughters favorite story.  He kept the main plot, but just added more detail to it.  He says in the very end, “I want to emphasize that Watership Down was never intended to be some sort of allegory or parable.  It is simply a story about rabbits made up and told in the car.”  The author wrote this story on request of his daughters; it was their favorite car ride story. 

                I think that there was a deeper meaning to the story.  I think that is that everyone has something to say and we should listen and heed them.  The symbolism of the Titanic and Noah and the Ark show support me.  If people had listened to Noah, then they would have lived.  If the pilots had heeded the iceberg warning sent out by other people, then the Titanic wouldn’t have sank.