Rabbits From Cowslip's Warren example essay topic

As you grow up, you have always been told stories to either scare you into not doing something, like if you don't go to bed, the boogeyman will come and get you; or stories that give you hope, inspire you, make you dream, or help you to the next step in your life. You " ve heard these stories from your parents, your grandparents, your aunts and uncles; you " ve practically heard a story from everybody in your family down to the old lady who lives down the street. People just want you to learn from their mistakes or to let you know that things will always work out. Some stories are based on real life experiences while others are simply myths. A myth is defined as: "A traditional, typically ancient story dealing with supernatural beings, ancestors, or heroes that serves as a fundamental type in the worldview of a people, as by explaining aspects of the natural world or delineating the psychology, customs, or ideals of society". The stories told in Watership Down fall under this category.

The myths in Watership Down were about El- and they were told to inspire Hazel, Fiver, Big Wig, and all the other rabbits to not give up until they are safely away from their warren, leave another warren, and to save what they " ve worked so hard to attain. These myths about El- help to keep one of the central themes of the story alive: hope, survival, and perseverance. The first myth told in Watership Down: "The Story of the Blessing of El-" tell us about how rabbits came to be so fast and how they can sense danger as well. In the words of Frith: "Bottom, be strength and warning and speed forever and save the life of your master". (pg. 26) This story was told to the rabbits when they had just left their warren and they were scared because they didn't know where they were or where they were going.

Not only did they not know where they were going, they encounter a dog and a river. The dog was behind them in the woods and the river was in front of them, they were forced to cross the river even though it was not common for rabbits to swim. With Blackberry's cleverness and Big Wig's strength, Hazel and the rabbits make it safely to the other side of the river. These are just two of the many challenges that Hazel and the rabbits go through to survive. Survival is a task that is daily for the rabbits, as it is for humans as well.

It's not necessarily a life and death situation for humans, but it could be as simple as keeping a job for another day or as nerve wracking as watching a loved one in a coma, not knowing if they " ll ever come out of it or if they will last another day. Similar to the way Hazel and the rabbits drew strength from the myths they heard, humans draw strength from myths or stories also, along with religion, past experiences, or word of mouth. Life is a constant struggle for humans as well as rabbits, more so for some rabbits than others. After Hazel and the rabbits cross the river, they meet a warren that doesn't show any kind of survival instinct, they meet Cowslip and his warren. Cowslip and his rabbits are all big, strong, and healthy rabbits but they don't know how to fight or seem to take precautions as normal rabbits do when they go out to or pass h raka. Their ways are best described in Fiver's words: "The rabbits became strange in many ways, different from other rabbits.

They knew well enough what was happening. But even to themselves they pretended that all was well, for the food was good, they were protected, they had nothing to fear but the one fear; and that struck here and there, never enough at a time to drive them away. They forgot the ways of wild rabbits. They forgot El-, for what use had they for tricks and cunning, living in the enemy's warren and paying his price? (pg. 104) "The next myth that is told in Watership Down is "The Story of the King's Lettuce", which involved that trait that all rabbits had except for Cowslip and his warren: trickery and cunning. "The Story of the King's Lettuce" was about how El- was able to trick King Darzin and Prince Rainbow. Prince Rainbow had banished El- to the dreary land of Kelfazin because he was a trickster and a thief.

Prince Rainbow would only allow El- to leave Kelfazin if he proved himself to be an honest rabbit but El- responds with: "Then we shall never get out, for I would be ashamed to tell my people to stop living on their wits (pg. 84)". El- suggests to Prince Rainbow that if he were able to steal the lettuces of King Darzin, then Prince Rainbow would allow El- and his people to leave. Knowing that King Darzin has his lettuces highly protected, Prince Rainbow agrees. Needless to say, El- was not only able to steal King Darzin's lettuces but was able to get them personally delivered to him. This fight for survival and to not give up who you are was lost among Cowslip and his warren.

Survival instincts are a part of everybody. It's like a mother's instinct to protect her children or a person's fight or flight instinct when they get bullied. In Watership Down, Cowslip's and his rabbits' lack of common sense is displayed when the reader discovers that they are aware of the traps hidden where they eat, yet, they go about like they " re not even there. Worse still, they don't do anything about it nor care when one of their own is gone because of it.

Luckily for Hazel, Big Wig, Blueberry, and the others, Fiver senses that Cowslip's warren is a bad place and they end up leaving for a better one. Fiver's reasons to leave Cowslip's warren is justified when Strawberry, one of the rabbits from Cowslip's warren, asks to joins them and leave his mate, Nil dro-ha in, because he is unhappy of how the warren is also. The last myth in the book is "The Story of Rowsby Woof and the Fairy Wogdog" is told when Hazel, Fiver, Big Wig, Blueberry, and the others are settling into their new home. They had just been through some adventures and challenges, a few of them very dangerous and almost life threatening, to bring back some does to their warren to complete their new home. Their warren finally had both bucks and does and they were all living comfortably together.

They were even expecting a litter or two soon. They couldn't have asked for anything more. "The Story of Rowsby Woof and the Fairy Wogdog" was about how El- was able to trick Rowsby Woof, the dog, to leave his master's house so that El- could sneak into his home to eat the lettuces his master had brought inside to thaw out. This story was told to the rabbits just in time because General Woundwort and some of his Owsla rabbits had come for revenge. General Woundwort was from the Erf rafa warren where Hazel had taken the does.

General Woundwort was not happy at all; he wanted to have all the does returned, along with Big Wig who tricked them, and Black avar who escaped with the does. "The Story of Rowsby Woof and the Fairy Wogdog" reminded Hazel that they also had a dog, at Nut hanger Farm, nearby that they could trick to benefit them. Hazel, Dandelion, and Blackberry risk their lives leaving the warren that had been surrounded by General Woundwort and his Owsla rabbits to trick the dog to follow them back to the warren to chase General Woundwort and his Owsla rabbits off. Not only was the dog able to chase General Woundwort off, nobody ever heard of or saw General Woundwort again. This last myth told in the story reinforces the idea of how you can't give up and that you have to keep on going. You can't just sit back and await death because it looks imminent, you had to at least die trying, instead of just surrendering.

Most people in today's world do exactly that, they give something a try, and then see that it's either too much work or too hard to get to their goal, so they just give up. Isn't that why most students in college these days keep on switching majors and end up staying in school far longer than the traditional four years? Schools should rename their four-year degrees to a four years-or-more degrees. Watership Down is really one of those books that people should not judge just by its cover. People see that it's a story about rabbits and their adventures and simply assume that it's a children's book.

It's not though. It's a story that's full of anecdotes to give you hope, teach you about survival, and the importance of perseverance. Using rabbits as its main characters was really just a unique way to catch your attention. It just makes you think more in an abstract way of how to use what the rabbits went through and apply it towards your own life.

You can even use the myths from Watership Down as one of your stories to pass onto your kids, or grand kids, or nieces and nephews, to give them hope, inspire them, make them dream, or help them to that next step in their life. And then one day, El- will come to invite you to into his Owsla also.