Analyzing Richard Adams 'Watership Down'

Abigail Long Mrs. Raynor English 10 Honors - 5 19 March 2024.

Learning from Legends and myths are an important part of any society, as they teach lessons to those who know them. In the mythos of Watership Down by Richard Adams, El-ahrairah is the mythical trickster prince of the rabbits. He outsmarts his many enemies using his trickery, bravery, and cunning, along with the help of other rabbits and non-rabbits. Throughout the journey of Hazel, the leader of the group of rabbits that escape the destruction of their home, and his companions, many of their adventures parallel that of the legends of El-ahrairah. Hazel and his friends reach a new warren of fat, healthy, and strange rabbits. They are led by a rabbit named Cowslip, and do not know

In the legend, El-ahrairah steals King Darzin’s prized lettuces using his trickery and cunning. King Darzin was a militaristic ruler of “...the biggest and richest of the animal cities... his soldiers were very fierce and his lettuce garden was... guarded by a thousand sentries day and night” (Adams 94). This story parallels when, far later in their journey, Hazel’s second in command, the courageous and strong Bigwig, must infiltrate Efrafa, a militaristic warren run by a powerful, authoritarian leader named General Woundwort. He must do so in order to steal some do from Efrafa, so that Hazel’s warren can survive and reproduce. In the legend, El-ahrairah and his people have been driven from their homes and are in a new land. Likewise, the rabbits from the Sandleford Warren must leave their home, and travel to Watership Down, which is a new and unfamiliar place. El-ahrairah infiltrates King Darzin’s

The next story told is “The Trial of El-Ahrairah”. This features El-ahrairah enlisting the help of other animal races to trick his enemies. A treacherous rabbit, Hufza, is sent by King Rainbow, the enemy of El-ahrairah, to report on anything El-ahrairah is up to. In order to discredit Hufza as a witness, El-ahrairah asks a hedgehog and a pheasant to do strange things, and then lie about it to a jury, making Hufza seem crazy. This parallels Hazel’s use of other animals to aid the Sandleford rabbits in their adventures. Some notable examples are when Hazel befriends a mouse, who helps find the rabbits nice places to eat and warns them about the Efrafan invasion, when Woundwort comes seeking vengeance for Bigwig’s deception, and when he helps the seagull, Kehaar, who helps them find Nuthanger Farm and the Efrafan Warren. Kehaar even assists in the plot to take the does from Efrafa, and after they escape, Hazel admits that, “For all the courage of Bigwig and Silver, they would have failed without Kehaar” (382). When Silver asks Hazel his plan for befriending these animals, Hazel responds, “We’re in a strange place we don’t know much about and we need friends. We ought to do all we can to make these