Environmentalism in Watership Down by Richard Adams

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The small group of rabbits that left their original warren, Sandleford, to find a new home often uses their little spare time to listen to stories generally told by Dandelion. These stories are often about the Thousand Enemies and how they are a threat to the rabbits, especially El-ahrairah. Humans are presented as one of the “Thousand.” The author of the book, Richard Adams, displays man in a negative way because of this. Man is portrayed as violent, nonsensical, and abusive to the natural way of life. In the book, Watership Down, Richard Adams portrays the life and style of man in a negative way.

In both their old warren and on their journey, the group of rabbits encounters urban development and the city life which relentlessly interfere with their plans. The inciting point is the cause of sub-division development ("Literature in Brief Information about Watership Down.") and humans post a notice in the field where the rabbits live that says:

“THIS IDEALLY SITUATED ESTATE, COMPRISING SIX ACRES OF EXCELLENT BUILDING LAND, IS TO BE DEVELOPED WITH HIGH CLASS MODERN RESIDENCES BY SUTCH AND MARTIN, LIMITED, OR NEWBURY, BERKS” (Adams 8).

This residential construction ignites Fiver’s “visions” which causes the group to leave Sandleford Warren. In a later chapter, Holly and Bluebell seek out Hazel and his group and voice their willingness to join. At the same time, Holly relays the story of what happened in their old warren, Sandleford. Men with the white sticks in their mouths and made the air turn bad to kill the rabbits. Soon after, bulldozers flattened the area, with no regard whatsoever for the well-being of the rabbits. Richard Adams could be seen as taking use of development to get his rabbits to a better place, but such vio...

... middle of paper ...

... them technically part of the man. Because of their connection to man, Richard Adams exposes animals like cats and dogs, which are man’s possessions, in a distasteful way.

All in all, Richard Adams has a very negative view when it comes to man: human development and their creatures. His writing really gets into the mind of a rabbit, and through these rabbits he celebrates the natural, undisturbed world in which the rabbits live ("Literature in Brief Information about Watership Down."). Whether the rabbits simply hear about humans or even encounter them, they are generally displayed in a bad way. There may be a few times when there is a caring human, or a courteous animal, but that occurs very rarely. Richard Adams, in his book Watership Down, celebrates the natural created world before humans “destroyed” it.

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