Watership Down -book review

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 Let's talk about bunnies and war. I'm reading Watership Down, which is an allegory for war using rabbits. 



Let's start with the basics. We have a warren near a field. Fiver and Hazel (both male rabbits) go to a field, where Fiver illustrates his prophetic gift - by seeing "a field of blood". There is a sign announcing land development on that field and a cigarette on the ground. There is a lot to unpack here, but this is only the basic plotline. I'll unpack more later. From here, Fiver and Hazel take a group to create a new warren, which looks more like defecting because their leader refused to move everyone. They are later proved right about the whole thing, when only two rabbits from the old warren make it back to tell the tale. 

From here (and again, only doing basic plot) they find a bunch of rabbits bred to be killed by snares, free some hutch rabbits, rescue some rabbits from a warren resembling Nazi Germany, then have to fight those same rabbits at the end because they rescued does. That's a lot. And the end is Hazel peacefully passing away of old age as a deaf old man/rabbit after he's created peace between two burrows and prospered. 

Unpacking All That

This is a war allegory. Let's not forget that. I skipped over the white bird and a few events in that outline. Read it yourself. It is more than worth it. 

The first burrow represented communism (as all the best rabbits got the best food).Woundwort's burrow is almost a spot-on replication of Nazi Germany. The hutch rabbits would be the sheltered population who don't look around to see what is going on around them, afraid to step out of their box. The snare rabbits represent people dependent on authority, when authority itself is actually killing them. I'm pretty sure the iron road is the iron curtain, and Woundwort is definitely Hitler (as they even say they don't know if he's dead). 

One thing to comment is this book emphasizing that women are necessary for society, but men forget that and trust in war, or treat them badly and they leave. A society without women is a dead society, doomed to die off and never prosper. I think our society would do well to heed that warning. 

The stories are the best in this book. All the bunny lore is so good. I'm taken in by their epic stories about a trickster bunny. I loved every one. I was annoyed they didn't finish one. They had bigger fish to fry and had to run. 

A lot of descriptions could come out of prisoners of war, espionage, surviving warzones, and even coming home damaged from a war (like the injured bunnies and Fiver's mental state). The poisoning of the warren could be describing mustard gas or poison in a bunny hole. Trench warfare was a thing, a thing that poisoning a bunny burrow could represent. There is a lot to unpack. I do think the escape Big Whig spearheaded was reminiscent of The Great Escape (Stalag Luft III) and how Hitler was so angry he chased the escapees everywhere. Some people think Hitler went south after the war, which is represented with Woundwort. 

Conclusion

Five stars, no notes. I loved it. I cried at the end. I saw a lot of history in this bunny book. The cartoon was mistakenly marketed to children, which was a colossal mistake. This is for adults and young adults who have an interest in history and bunnies. 

Another thing to note, please get a physical copy and at least take a picture of the back, especially if you are going to listen to the excellent Peter Cipaldi read it aloud via Libby. The lapine dictionary is highly necessary. They don't explain every phrase. Lapine is a unique language and you get used to it. 
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Morrow is released! This novella is the story of two women writing a family history for the Morrow family. They find a nasty secret while researching. Will they survive their internship? 

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