Watership down?

Question

Any fans of the book. Anyone have any thoughts comments, I LOVE THE BOOK. Any one catch any awsome metaphores that i may have missed other than the obvious. (i didnt read it for school so im not trying to do my HW, I just think i may have missed lots of symbolism and stuff.) So cool symbolism and opinions would be nice please (any one cry lots????? I did)

Answer 1

"Harry Potter deals with witches and warlocks and wizards and thus is accused of being anti-Christian. There's also been criticism of Watership Down about whether it has Christian symbolism or anti-Christian symbolisms.


"Well, I don't think there's any pro or anti-society in Watership Down, it's simply a tale. If I tell a tale there has to be some baddies as well as some goodies and there are several baddies in Watership Down. It's only a made-up story, it's in no sense an allegory or parable or any kind of political myth. I simply wrote down a story I told to my little girls.


So you can put to bed once and for all after 30-odd years of debate that you weren't out to parody or parallel any religious concepts in Watership Down?


"Nothing like that at all. Of course it's true in Watership Down that rabbits have their own religion.

"They don't worship but they believe passionately in El-ahrairah, their sort of Robin Hood, they tell stories about El-ahrairah and there are lots of El-ahrairah stories included in Watership Down.

"In Dickens' Pickwick Papers there are stories let into the action and the purpose of these are merely as a relief from the comedy. But the let-in tales, by way of contrast, are usually rather grim and tough. Well this idea was copied by Adams from Dickens, and it's just the other way around.

"In Watership Down as you know there are a lot of pretty grim things happening in the course of the real story and the let-in stories are meant as a relief from the main story by making people roar with laughter. They continue to be funny, I still think they're funny (chuckles)."

For some reason, Yahoo Answers isn't letting me cut and paste from sparknotes. But go to the first link for info about themes, motifs and symbols.
The second link is an interview with Adams that discusses (among other things) any "symbolism" in the book.

I read it years ago and loved it. OK, OK - I cried, too. But keep it quiet, please. Guys aren't supposed to react like that.

Answer 2

I love the book too! Lol, remember how you showed it to me while you were still reading it, and I ended up finishing it first? Haha. Funny. I sobbed hysterically. A lot. OMG, WE SHOULD MAKE OUR OWN MOVIE ADAPTATION!! After the Squogs, of course. The major metaphore was Chuck Norris. You may have missed that one.

Oh, and in response to your answer to my Draco Malfoy question: No, he did NOT kill Dumbledore, which you would know if you read the books. Lol.

Omg, I say "hraka" too!

I like your Avatar's new hair, by the way.

Answer 3

The only metaphors are the obvious human ones -- the same ones inherent in any book wherein animals are conversing in language and having conflicts to resolve. And especially when they deal with spiritual concerns, as in this book.

I have one whimsical anecdote to relate: I read this book in high school right before the excellent film version was released, and have read it a few times in the intervening 25+ years. From the start, the rabbits' word for excrement ["hraka"] entered my lexicon as a quasi swear word for whenever I encounter some vexing difficulty. It's just a great word, and actually releases tension. Oh, hraka! :-)