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Reactions To Evil In Watership Down By Richard Adams

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Evil takes a prominent role in the classic adventure novel Watership Down, and the author, Richard Adams, introduces many old and new reactions to evil as the story progresses. Richard Adams makes his point very clear, there is evil everywhere on Earth, and it can even be present the downs of the English countryside. Richard Adams explores this idea of evil through many different forms: foxes, badgers, birds, humans, and the earth itself. The novel shows the readers these responses so, in turn, the reader knows the correct way to respond to evil accordingly. In Watership Down, while running away was the easiest way to respond to evil, the rabbits looked to the natural world and fought back as well.
Running away is the most noticeable and explainable reaction to evil in Watership Down. Being the most common reaction to anything intimidating or frightening in the world of humans, readers can assume the rabbits will do the same. After all, are they not just rabbits? One quote from the book explains this perfectly, “Oh, Hazel! This is where it comes from! I know now—something very bad! Some terrible thing—coming closer and closer....We have to leave” (27-30). The whole novel essentially revolves around the rabbits running away from their warren. Although the rabbits have other reaction events occur, everything all comes back to the novel’s core reaction; running away. Another quote explaining this reaction is one from Captain Holly, “I got away with what I did” (154). However,

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