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Chapter 2
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Watership Down, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
The Epic Journey
Violence and Power
Authoritarianism vs. Democracy
Home and Belonging
Summary
Analysis
That evening, Hazel, Fiver, and their friends Blackberry and Dandelion are feeding near the woods. Hazel expresses his disappointment in the Threarah’s indifference to Fiver’s plea, and when Dandelion and Blackberry ask whether there is a real threat to their warren, Hazel assures them that Fiver’s visions are never wrong. Bigwig walks up and tells them he’s left the Owsla. He asks Fiver if he’s planning to leave the warren, and Hazel answers for his brother: they’re both leaving tonight. Bigwig says he’ll go with them. Hazel is shocked but grateful—having a strong rabbit such as Bigwig on their side is an advantage. Blackberry says he’ll come, too, and, feeling bolstered by the support of his friends, Hazel suggests they quietly, without arousing the ire of the Owsla or Threarah, try to get some other rabbits to join them, too, before they head out at fu Inlé—moonrise.
Though Hazel and Fiver, despondent after their visit with the Threarah, are worried that no one will take them seriously, they find that their friends extend them empathy and solidarity—and even those they’d felt threatened or overpowered by, such as Bigwig, seem to share their frustrations and dissatisfactions. This passage establishes the sense of camaraderie born out of the hope for something better that will emerge between these rabbits as the novel progresses.
Themes
