Post 13 ; Final Thoughts

I really enjoyed reading and doing my final project on Watership Down. To me, it's a classic story that everyone should get a chance to read and enjoy. This was a story that I really enjoyed when I was little; I didn't have the novel, but I watched the movie and it was amazing to me. Back then, seeing things and characters like El-ahrairah and the Black Rabbit of Inlé were confusing to me and I didn't understand what they meant or stood for. But now, having the opportunity to do a project on this story and now understand what I didn't know before was a great experience; I now understand what the meaning of those characters are. I hope anyone who reads this blog has an opportunity to watch the movie; I'll include it at the bottom of this post.

In conclusion, I hope I did a good job with this project. When I first started off with this project, I noticed that I  spent most of the time just summarizing the story. But as I progressed, I started writing more about what any questions I had about a certain part, or even just my thoughts on the story. Hopefully I improved my posts enough over time to leave a positive impression!

Watership Down- Full Movie (Youtube)

Post 12 ; Chapters 48-50 (Epilogue)

The Nuthanger Farm

Chapter 48: Dea ex Machina

Back at the Nuthanger farm, Hazel is squealing from the cat and is about to kill him until Lucy, a girl who lives on the farm, stops it and rescues Hazel. She takes Hazel up to her room and puts him in her dresser drawer, and waits until the doctor for her mom comes. When the doctor shows up, Lucy shows him Hazel, and is told that he has only minor scratches and will be fine. Hearing this, Lucy lets Hazel back outside, where he runs off back to the warren between Hare Warren Down and Watership Down.

Chapter 49: Hazel Comes Home

Because Woundwort fought with the dog, many rabbits were escape with their lives. The Efrafan rabbits come under Campion's order, and retreat back to Efrafa. Other animals hear about the defeat of Woundwort, and pick off several of the retreating Efrafans, including Vervian. Some Efrafans are too afraid to go back and surrender to the Honeycomb warren. The group has begun to think Hazel is dead until they see him coming back from the bottom of the hill. Bigwig recovers from his wounds and Hazel tells them the story on how he escaped. 

An aged Hazel (foreground) years later with the established warren

Chapter 50: And Last

The setting fast forwards to the middle of October. Several does have litters of kittens, and the Efrafans have surrendered and coexist happily with each other. Hazel proposes his old idea on building a warren between Honeycomb and Efrafa so the warren doesn't become overcrowded. The kittens grow up and more stories of El-Ahrairah are told as time passes.

Hazel encounters the Black Rabbit of Inlé, signaling his time to move on

Epilogue

The epilogue is written to show the reader what happens with everything in the end. The setting is now several years later, and there are several new warrens around Watership Down filled with rabbits. Hazel lives longer than all the other rabbits, until one day in a cold morning in March, he is visited by the Owlsa, The Black Rabbit of Inlé. Hazel leaves his body and follows the black rabbit into the fields. Hazel looks back one last time to see his dream prospering and knowing that everything there will be okay.

Hazel's spirit follows the Black Rabbit of Inlé to his new life after death


Comments/Questions

I'll admit that I was sort of disappointed when there were no surprises in the end of this story. Something like Woundwort actually being alive or the continued rivalry between Honeycomb and the Efrafans to continue the story. I think that Woundwort being alive certainly would have been a cool plot twist. But, I understand why the story ended like this.

I would have liked known how the warren progressed after the fight with Woundwort. How quickly did the rabbits settle into their new home now that they were safe? And how would the Efrafans led by Campion regrouped after losing their leader. It shows in the future that the two sides got along fine in the end but again, it would have been cool to see what happened in detail once Woundwort was gone.

The ending with Hazel going off with the Black Rabbit of Inlé gave me chills; it was one of the most powerful events that I've ever seen or read in a book. I also watched the ending of the movie and felt the exact same way. This leaves me wondering that it is possible there is some sort of life after death; I'm not religious at all, but it's fascinating to think of the possibility of living once again once your physical body dies and leaves this Earth.

This concludes my blog posts for my project but I'll have one more extra one up tomorrow. Thank you for reading all the way up to this point about Richard Adams' classic story Watership Down, and I hope that this was a blog that really got you into the story!

THE END

Post 11 ; Chapters 46-47

Bigwig defends the other Honeycomb rabbits from Woundwort

Woundwort prepares his assault on the rabbits of the Honeycomb warren, leaving two of his sentries outside. He breaks in, and sees Fiver lying on the ground, sleeping after becoming lost in a trance. Woundwort thinks he is dead so he ignores him. On the other side of the warren, Bigwig and Holly are coming up with a plan to defeat Woundwort. Bigwig decides to bury himself underneath and wait for Woundwort to get near. Woundwort sees a newly made wall and breaks through it. Just at that moment, Bigwig bursts out from underground and bites Woundwort's leg. They fight for a while, giving each other harsh bites and scratches.

Woundwort (top) and Bigwig in a bloody and violent battle

The dog chases one of Woundwort's sentries

Back outside, Dandelion and Blackberry are trying to get the dog's attention to follow them back to the warren.  At first the dog isn't interested in them, but they eventually get it's attention and starts following them. Back in Honeycomb, Woundwort and Bigwig continue their fight. Bigwig isn't afraid to die because he knows his body will be an obstacle for Woundwort to get around. They both lock onto each other and start pushing each other backwards. When Woundwort starts losing his strength, Bigwig injures his nose and it starts bleeding, causing Woundwort to not be able to breathe. He lets go of Bigwig, who has fainted due to his injuries. Woundwort leaves Bigwig and assigns Vervian, a sentry, to kill him, but refuses because he is too scared. Bigwig is barely conscious, and tells Woundwort that he will not move for anything because the chief rabbit has told him to stay, which confuses Woundwort because it was thought to be that Bigwig was the chief. Above ground, Woundwort starts making a new plan until he sees two rabbits followed by a dog chasing them. Campion screams to everyone to run, and all the rabbits except Woundwort disperse. He stands his ground and shouts out "dogs aren't dangerous! Come back and fight!" That is the last time anyone has heard from Woundwort. Presumably, the dog won the battle.

Woundwort and the dog charge at each other for the final battle

Comments/Questions

It was interesting to me that Woundwort was the only one fighting for Efrafa. I thought the sentries would at least help Woundwort with the fights, but I guess Woundwort thought they would be better off standing guard. I think that Woundwort has too much pride to ask for assistance from his sentries. He could have easily have beaten Bigwig with their help.

I would have liked to have known the details of Woundwort and the dog's fight. The dog is clearly much bigger and stronger but Woundwort is a beastly rabbit who knows how to fight. I think in the end the fight was close but the dog eventually overpowered the weakened Woundwort. Even though he was clearly a ruthless tyrant, I still admire Woundwort's bravery in going up alone against the dog after all his sentries ran off in fear. He was a true leader and a strong fighter.

I wonder what happens after this point in the story? Do the Efrafan's join up with Honeycomb to unite as one big warren? Or do they call for peace and leave each other alone? Either way I see the story ending well for the Honeycomb warren.

Post 10 ; Chapters 43-45

Woundwort with his sentries

Chapter 43: The Great Patrol

At this point, the story goes backwards a little to show how Woundwort reacted to Hazel and the group's escape. He felt that the reputation of his authority has taken a huge dent, and was obsessed with finding the group. After their escape, he assigned patrols out to the area where they had run into the fox before. Eventually the patrols found out where the Honeycomb warren was, and that's when he was going to go to the warren until Hazel showed up and offered a peace agreement between the two sides. Part of the agreement included making a warren between Honeycomb and Efrafa with rabbits from each side living in it. Woundwort likes the idea at first, but realizes that he is a dominant leader of his warren, and balks at the idea. He then tells Hazel to go back and return all the does they took, or else he will kill him as well as the rest of the bucks.

Chapter 44: A Message from El-ahrairah

Woundwort and his sentries begin their assault on the Honeycomb warren. He orders two sentries to dig out the holes blocking entrances. The sentries are worried that Keharr may attack them again, but Woundwort insists he is not nearby. Inside the warren, a sentry is mauled by Blackavar and left injured, and Woundwort realizes that they have to dig through the warren from the top. Meanwhile, Fiver screams as he becomes lost in another trance; he talks about a dog running freely outside. Hazel realizes that there was a dog back at the farm, so he tells Blackberry and Dandelion to come with him to go back to the farm.

Fiver becomes lost in a trance

Chapter 45: Nuthanger Farm Again

Outside the Honeycomb warren, Woundwort and his sentries hear Fiver's unearthly scream. They become frightened and think there may be something else down there with them. They stop digging, and tell a story about a great bird who once turned into a rod of lightning. Woundwort is barely able to keep the sentries on the job. Meanwhile, Campion spots the three rabbits running away, but Woundwort tells him to let them go. He also tells the sentries to keep digging. Meanwhile, Hazel and the others reach the farm and spot the dog leashed to a pole. They take turns gnawing the rope and looking out for other predators until Dandelion stamps the ground to warn Hazel that the cat is nearby. The cat pounces at Hazel, startling the dog, and breaks free from the leash, chasing Dandelion. Unfortunately, the cat has captured Hazel.

Hazel is captured by the cat

Questions/Comments

It was interesting to find out that Woundwort at first liked Hazel's idea of having a warren between Honeycomb and Efrafa. In theory, it would have been; a warren mixed with rabbits from both warrens would have created a bond between the two sides and possibly no violence. Instead, it looks like there will be a huge fight in the bear future. To me, it's a shame that they couldn't come to terms with each other.

I wonder why Woundwort's sentries got frightened when Fiver screamed? If I were them, I wouldn't have thought there was something else inside the warren. I would have thought the scream was because of the digging outside by the sentries. I can't think of anything that could have been underground to scare Fiver like that.

Woundwort telling Campion to let the three rabbits go was interesting to me. From Campion's perspective, they were clearly up to something suspicious but it was weird to see Woundwort let them go so passively. Woundwort must be confident with his abilities and his sentries to win the battle.

I think that letting the dog free is a huge risk for the group; it isn't fighting for either side and could even go for the Honeycomb rabbits. They must think that it would go for Woundwort out of everyone since he looks the most fierce and dangerous.

Post 9 ; Chapters 39-42

The boat passing under one of the bridges

Chapter 39: The Bridges

The boat floats down the river, and the rabbits are unknowing where they will end up next. However, they are still happy to get away from Woundwort and Efrafa. Keharr shows up and warns the group that their boat won't fit under a bridge they are approaching. They just barely manage to squeeze under the bridge, but one of the does gets injured. Soon after they approach another bridge. To avoid what happened before, Keharr suggests the rabbits jump off the boat and swim under the bridge. Hazel, Pipkin and Blackavar jump off into the river and swim to the land. They reach the land and tell the others it's okay to jump. They all eventually get off the boat and onto dry land. They find a well-hidden wooded area and sleep for the night.

Chapter 40: The Way Back

The next morning, the doe who was injured from the bridge dies. Keharr announces that there's nothing left he can do for the rabbits, so he says his farewells and flies away. Blackavar proves to be very useful, as he knows the area around their setting after being part of Efrafa for so long. He eventually leads them to a place called Caesar's Belt. Fiver feels uneasy again about their surroundings, and Blackavar agrees; he says that they are in fox territory. Bigwig starts to get a negative opinion on Blackavar because he feels that he is somewhat of a showoff. Nonetheless, the group digs holes to sleep in and rest for the next several days. On the second day, a fox snatches a doe who was feeding. Bigwig apologizes to Blackavar, realizing that he was right about the foxes nearby. The group heads on back to Honeycomb, where they are ambushed by four rabbits led by Campion, who has found them. Campion claims to have a patrol group nearby that will report them to Woundwort, but the group doesn't believe him. They call the bluff, and Campion lets them pass. They eventually reach Honeycomb again, greeted by Strawberry and Buckthorn. The patrol sees the warren and goes back to report the news.

Efrafa patrol spotting the Honeycomb warren

Chapter 41: The Story of Rowsby Wolf and the Fairy Wogdog

The group reunites in Honeycomb, with the count being 16 bucks and 10 does. Dandelion tells them a story about El-ahrairah, who played a trick on a dog, Rowsby Woof, to get more food. This story explains more how the rabbits have to use smartness and trickery to defend themselves from Woundwort in the future.

Chapter 42: News at Sunset

After Dandelion's story, the mouse that Hazel saved brings some news. He says that there are a group of rabbits who may be friends of Hazel. Holly and Blackavar check, and find out that they are from Efrafa, and meet with Campion. Hazel tells the group to fill up the holes so the other rabbits would have to dig to get them out. In the meantime, Hazel tries to talk to Woundwort to find out if they could agree to some sort of peace treaty between the two sides.

Hazel negotiating with Woundwort and his patrols for peace

Questions/Comments

I wonder why Keharr didn't warn the rabbits to jump off the boat before the first bridge. Surely he could have known if the bridge was too low for them to fit; maybe he realized his mistake after the doe got injured from the bridge.

Why did Keharr leave so suddenly? He said that he doesn't have anything else to do to help the rabbits, but I can't help but think that he could been helpful if Woundwort or his patrols attacked the group again. I have a feeling that we haven't seen the last of Keharr in this story.

It was weird to see Campion and his guards let the group pass without fighting. I would think that they would have liked to prevent the group from getting any farther away from Efrafa. Maybe Woundwort has his own secret plan of his own for the group.

I will state that Hazel is easily the bravest rabbit out of the group. Bigwig may have gone undercover in Efrafa, but going up solo to Woundwort and try to negotiate a peace treaty is pretty ballsy. If I were a member of the group I would tell Hazel to stay far away from Woundwort and be prepared to fight in the bear future.

That's all for this week; chapters 43-50 will be posted on Tuesday-Thursday. Almost done with this project; it has been hard work, but sort of fun as well!

Post 8 ; Chapters 36-38

The suspicious captain, Chervil

Chapter 36: Approaching Thunder

Outside of Efrafa warren, Bigwig tells Keharr that the others have to be ready at sunset. Keharr is also told that he has to attack the sentries if it comes to that. Bigwig then tells Hyzenthlay about the plan, and she tells her friend about the plan as well. The plan seems to be going well until Chervil sees Bigwig with Keharr, and tells Woundwort about it. Woundwort demands a talk with Bigwig about the issue.

Chapter 37: The Thunder Builds Up

Woundwort is suspicious of Bigwig because he says that one of the patrols saw him running away from the fox. Bigwig says that it was intentional of him to lead the fox to Woundwort's patrol. He also denies knowing the group of rabbits that escaped from Efrafa earlier. Also, he tells Woundwort that he was talking to the bird (Keharr) to try and impress Chervil. Woundwort believes him, and invites him on a Wide Patrol in a few days. He also tells Bigwig to watch out for Hyzenthlay because he is suspicious of her. After a few days the main group realizes that things aren't going accordingly to plan. Bigwig is also worried because he had told Hyzenthlay to be ready, and that they would be caught. He manages to tell Keharr indirectly to come back tonight. Lastly, he tells Blackavar to be ready to leave because he plans to take him.

Keharr attacks Woundwort just after the flash of lightning


Chapter 38: The Thunder Breaks

In the afternoon, Bigwig is woken up by Hyzenthlay because she says that one of the does was arrested for spilling the plan. He tells her to gather up the others quickly while he gets Blackavar. When he reaches Blackavar, he attacks fights one of the guards to get him free. He and the others start running off, and the rest of the patrols in Efrafa hear and spot them escaping. Woundwort gets wind of the escape, and eventually catches up to them. Outside, it is raining heavily, and Bigwig is wondering where Keharr is. Woundwort spots them and starts to attack. Just as that happens, a flash of lightning happens, freezing everyone, and gives time for Keharr to come in and attack. Some of the group appears, and helps them get down to the boat at the river. At the riverbank, the boat is waiting for them to leave, but some of the does won't go on until Bigwig tells them to. They all eventually get on board, and Hazel chews the rope, letting the boat free as they drift away from the danger of Woundwort and Efrafa.

Woundwort just barely misses the group escaping on the river

Questions/Comments

I wonder how Bigwig so easily tricked Chervil and Woundwort? If I were in their situation, I would think something is going on if I saw Bigwig talking to a huge bird. I would think something is obviously going on that Woundwort should have been more aware of. A rare mistake by him in my opinion.

Woundwort should have been even more aware after one of the does leaked the plan. That definitely should have set off a bad feeling about Bigwig, but instead interrogated the doe rather than question Bigwig. Maybe Woundwort isn't aware and smart as I thought he was before.

I now realize what the boat was for- a quick escape if the group was in danger. I feel silly how I wondered before how the rabbits would use the boat; it was obvious they were counting on the river's strong current to  drift them far away.

Lastly, I can't help but think that Bigwig and the others' escape was too easy. I think that they will run into Woundwort and his forces again in the future. Woundwort has a better understanding on how the group thinks and plans their actions out, and he will surely be looking for revenge after getting tricked.

Post 7 ; Chapters 31-35

The Black Rabbit of Inlé, as portrayed in the story

Chapter 31: The Story of El-ahrairah and the Black Rabbit of Inlé 

Dandelion tells the story about El-ahrairah. From this story, the rabbits can determine that the story reassures them that nothing can hurt them if 'their time has not come'. In the story, El-ahrairah sacrificed his whiskers, tail, and ears in an attempt to trick the Black Rabbit, which are coincidentally the parts used by rabbits to survive. The Black Rabbit is described as being the grim reaper of rabbits; his job is to take rabbits away and make sure they die at their predetermined time. Just as Dandelion finishes up his story, Pipkin alerts the group that a fox is approaching them.

Chapter 32: Across the Iron Road

Hazel gets the group a good distance away from the fox. Surprisingly, Bigwig runs out and tries to distract the fox, and acts like he is wounded so the group can get away. Hazel gets mad because he knows they were far away and that they could have easily gotten away without anyone risking their lives. Bigwig leads the fox into a brush, where he ran into several rabbits he didn't know. They try to stop him but he knocks one of them down and gets away. The group hears a screech from a distance, presumably the fox getting the rabbit that Bigwig knocked down. Later Bigwig tells Hazel that he was practicing to fool the fox so that he wasn't worried about Efrafa. The next morning, the group crosses a railroad. Keharr tells the group that Woundwort's patrol squad will find them if they can't find a place to hide. He suggests for the group to hide in the woods because he knows that the squad patrols around the railroad. When they reach inside the woods, Keharr tells them that they are now safe. Feeling safe, the group decides to sleep. Keharr agrees to help keep watch.

The fox in the animated series version of 'Watership Down'

Chapter 33: The Great River

After the rest, the group finds a large river with a bridge. They are reluctant to cross the bridge but Fiver and his instincts reassure them that it is safe. Being reassured, the group takes a rest. Later, Blackberry and Hazel try to figure out the rest of their plan. They meet with Keharr and a few others at a boat that they found. Keharr explains what it does, and they realize that it could become a vital part of their plan. Bigwig heads back off to Efrafa to carry out the plan.

Chapter 34: General Woundwort

Back at Efrafa, part of Woundwort's past is described. He witnessed his father die from a gun, and was raised by a human, but never was able to be tamed. He escaped from his hutch and met up with a new warren of rabbits. Eventually he became the chief rabbit of that warren, and took some of his followers to Efrafa, where he developed more skills at controlling large amounts of rabbits. He eventually had to make his patrol squad because there were too many rabbits to watch for. In the mean time, he is worried about Efrafa's reputation after the group managed to escape from him. He also found out that the fox killed one of his officers. Meanwhile, Bigwig asks Captain Campion to ask Woundwort to join Efrafa as an officer.  Woundwort agrees to make him an officer, but leaves a painful mark in Bigwig's leg, indicating he is now part of Efrafa.

Captain Campion of the Efrafa warren

Chapter 35: Groping

In Efrafa, Bigwig learns how their system operates and realizes that the plan will be much harder to pull off than expected. He meets Blackavar, who was caught trying to escape once before, and is used as an example to the other rabbits what would happen to them if they tried to escape. Bigwig meets Hyzenthlay, who is aware of his plans to take does with him. She tells him that they must leave sometime in the next two days because of the shortage of officers. They agree to try and leave tomorrow night.

Questions/Comments

Trying to add more to the questions/comments section. I feel that there's not enough here to balance out the actual summary of the book. Please let me know if I should add more or if this is fine!

I'm starting to think that the story of the Black Rabbit of Inlé is foreshadowing future events in the story. It is apparently the Grim Reaper of rabbits; maybe a main character (or even more characters) will end up dying in this story? The events leading up to this critical part of the story seem to indicate to me that the group will have to fight Woundwort and his forces. They are in dangerous territory right now with Bigwig going undercover in Efrafa.

I wonder what plans the group has for the boat? I wouldn't think that rabbits would be smart to capably start up and control a boat; I don't even think I could do that! Nonetheless, it seems that this boat will come into play later on in this story. I'm curious to find out what it's for.

It was interesting to learn about Woundwort's heavy past. It seems like he had to go through a lot in his life that probably traumatized him like seeing his father get shot. His anger and grief built up inside of him, and caused hum to become controlling and violent. Seeing Woundwort's character development like this was very interesting because it shed a little light on why he is so bad.

I wonder how Bigwig will get Hyzenthlay and the other does out of the warren? Apparently they will leave during the night when there will be fewer patrols out. But I can't see Woundwort letting them escape so easily; I think that he will stop their plan easily because of his experience and awareness with handling other rabbits.

Hyzenthlay