The Message Within Watership Down

When my mom handed me Watership Down for school reading I looked at the cover with slight disgust. Rabbits. Why in the world, I asked myself, would I want or need to read a book about some rabbits with weird names? But, trusting that my mom is wise enough to pick good books for me, I lifted the cover of Richard Adam’s fiction work on a group of rabbits who are searching for a safe home.

I was hooked. Here was a tale of rabbits who knew how to love, and hate. They fought to defend each other; they lived and died with faith in each other. They were true to the end; here was the kind of reading I longed for. Bravery and loyalty were praised and evil was confronted. It was everything I wanted in a good fiction novel; with rabbits. Contained in this story is a message that loyalty to one’s beliefs is right. Even when one is confronted with threats larger than they can overcome.

Watership Down follows a small group of rabbits who leave their home, convinced it is going to be destroyed, and search for a new home at a place called Watership Down. After overcoming hardships on their travels they reach their destination and build a new home. The three rabbits who are main characters (Fiver, Hazel-Rah, and Bigwig) all struggle with anger, doubts, and fear. But they overcome with faith in their “god” and each other. Not in their own strength. This book is not politically correct, which is one reason I loved it.

There is adventure, suspense, danger, love, and loyalty. At the end, after a siege and a final battle between a group of tyrannical rabbits and our heroes, the reader will feel as if they have traveled along with these brave rabbits and accomplished something.

Thankfully, Mr. Adams does not use language, with the exception of a bird who could use a little soap in the mouth once or twice. I strongly recommend this book (like all others I review) for people of all ages as a must read. Watership Down is a classic.

Buy Watership Down

Ted Bradley