Watership Down Literary Elements

Adventure, War Allegory

Present day, rural England

The narrator is a third-person omniscient narrator who has access to Hazel's thoughts, feelings, and perceptions and also those of other characters. Occasionally the narrator will describe the inner thoughts of another character, such as Bigwig, Fiver, or Woundwort, but generally only when Hazel is not present.

The tone and mood is ominous throughout most of the story. The rabbits are in danger almost continually, and are aware of the constant threats that surround them.

Hazel, the leader of the rabbit refugees, is the main protagonist. The main antagonist is General Woundwort, who leads a rival warren.

There are two big conflicts in the book. The first is the struggle for the refugee rabbits from the Sandleford warren to find a new, safe home. The second is the war between the protagonist rabbits and the rival warren known as Efrafa.

The climax of the piece is a battle between the Watership Down rabbits and the invading Efrafa army. Bigwig squares off against General Woundwort while Hazel leads a high-risk mission to free a dog to attack the Efrafa rabbits.

The character Fiver routinely predicts the future but does not always understand his visions or his hunches. He predicts the violent destruction of the Sandleford warren and the danger at Strawberry's warren.

When Bigwig says that his Chief Rabbit has told him to defend a particular run and that he will stay and do so until he is told otherwise, he is asserting that he will fight to the death even against General Woundwort.

The rabbits make frequent references to their deity, Lord Frith, and to their mythical leader and hero El-Ahrairah.

The running rabbit is used throughout the book as a reference to life and health. When a rabbit dies, the other rabbits refer to him or her as having "stopped running".

The rabbits spend most of the book avoiding dogs and other "elil" or enemies, yet it is only by luring a dog to attack the Efrafa army that they are able to permanently lift the siege and remove the threat. Ironically, the biggest threat to the Watership Down warren is not from elil, but from General Woundwort and his followers, who are rabbits.

Sometimes the story splits into two or more storylines, such as when Hazel leads an expedition to release a dog while the other rabbits defend the Watership Down warren.

The rabbits in General Woundwort's army are sometimes referred to as Efrafa (which is the name of the warren).

Rabbits personify death as a Black Rabbit.