Comparing The Three Warrans In Watership Down By Adams Richard

Write a compare and contrast essay about the three warrans

In Watership Down by Adams Richard, there are three different warrans Hazel and his rabbits go to. The first warran they meet on their flight from their endangered home is the warran of the snares. Rabbits there are given food daily by a human, but there are traps on the circumference of their warran they refuse to acknowledge. Upon leaving this warran, the rabbits start their own warran, one where living naturally and being kind reign. They soon discover the Efrafa warran, where the leader is cruel and overpowers the other rabbits. The three warrans repersent different forms of human government, all with different views about home and leadership.

The rabbits in the warran of the

snares believe that home is a roof over your head and a bite to eat. They don't care about helping the others that share their home, only if it doesn't endanger them. When Bigwig is caught in a snare they didn't tell Hazel about, they ignore their pleas to help get him out. Hazel's rabbits free Bigwig by themselves and leave the warran. They don't know they have been followed by Captian Holly and his rabbits, who stumble into the warran of the snares. Upon hearing they are looking for Hazel and his rabbits, Cowslip attacks Holly outright, leading the other rabbits to maul Holly's rabbits. The rabbits in the warran of the snares believe it is okay to attack someone or ignore them if they are in danger if they believe differently than you. Cowslip is the leader of the warran of the snares, and he frequently ignores the new rabbits or scares them with unnatural behavior such as laughing or carrying food in his mouth. The rabbits in the warran of the snares believe that a good leader is someone who makes everything fair. Cowslip makes sure everyone -even the sick and old, who can't graze- is taken care of. Even though this means the occasional rabbit being caught by a snare, since the majority of them are happy and healthy, the rabbits belive Cowslip is a good leader.
The leader of the Efrafan warran is General Woundwort.

He is ruthless and belicose. Woundwort and the officers in his Owsla (strongest rabbits in a warren, the ruling clique.(Epilogue)) believe that home isn't about being happy or free, it's about being isolated from danger, no matter the cost. They abuse their rabbits, and control them completely. Technally, the rabbits in the Efrafan warran are safer than the ones in Hazel's warran or the warran of the snares, but they aren't in control of their own lives at all. None of the normal rabbits are happy, only Woundwort and his Owsla -who enjoy seniour prevliges- enjoy their life in Efrafa. Their lives are completely unnatural, General Woundwort especially. He isn't very rabbit-like, and doesn't want to enjoy the freedom that Hazel and his rabbits so long for. The rabbits in the Efrafan warran, or at least the leaders, believe that a good leader is someone who keeps everyone safe, sometimes at the cost of their own safety. Granted, despite his cruel behaviour, General Woundwort keeps his rabbits safe. He severly punishes or kills them if they disobey him, but if you follow his rules, you are safe from all outside

harm.
Unlike General Woundwort and his rabbits, Hazel and his rabbits are willing to sacrifice a little bit of safety for a natural, free home.

They believe that home is a place where you can live naturally, and be free and safe. Hazel's rabbits faced many difficulties to get to Watership Down, where they built their new warran, but it was all worth it because they are free and happy. Bigwig, one of Hazel's rabbits, spends only a day in the Efrafan warran but is appaled and depressed by the lack of freedom there. He admires General Woundwort and respects his genuis, but is very wary of his temper and lack of humanity. The rabbits at Watership Down belive that a good leader is kind and cunning, and should listen to his teammates to decide what is best for all of them. Hazel is all of these. Many times he defeats the problem using his brain, and only fights as a last resort. Hazel doesn't make decisons by himself, but consults several rabbits before deciding on what to do. Hazel is a clever mix of a cunning and kind leader, and a strong and tough leader. Hazel leads his rabbits with a very democrate-like

system.
The warrans all repersent different forms of government. The warran of the snares repersents a socialist or communimest government. Cowslip takes great pains to make sure all the rabbits are equal in status, and that no one has more than anyone else. They even say there is no "Chief Rabbit", Cowslip is their leader in that he takes charge of eveything, not that he has a formal status. The Efrafan warran is a totalitarian government, in that Woundwort and his Owsla are the supreme rulers, while everyone else is abused and trod upon. Watership Down is a democracy. Hazel is the leader in that everyone agreed that he would be the best. He asks the other rabbits whenever he has to make an importante decision, and is never cruel or unreasonable.
Richard Adams was very clever with writing the different warrans. No warran is completely right in the way it should be governed, but none are completely wrong. Hazel combines ideas from the warran of the snares, Efrafa, and his home to create the perfect warran, a place where rabbits can live in freedom and safety. He is not completely sucessful, and Adams suggests that neither he nor any other rabbit can be. The three warrans are all different kinds of government, all with their advantages and flaws. Adams suggests that no form of government is completely correct in everything, and that rabbits and humans alike will all have different views on home and leadership.