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The Wind in the Willows (view source)
Revision as of 18:44, September 19, 2021
, 18:44, September 19, 2021I thought this could use a summary.
'''''The Wind in the Willows''''' is a 1908 British children's novel written by Kenneth Grahame. The book follows the adventures of four anthropomorphized animals: [[Badger]], [[Mole]], Rat and Toad. ''The Wind in the Willows'' is considered by many to be a classic.
'''''The Wind in the Willows''''' is a 1908 British children's novel written by Kenneth Grahame. The book follows the adventures of four anthropomorphized animals: [[Badger]], [[Mole]], Rat and Toad. ''The Wind in the Willows'' is considered by many to be a classic.
== Plot ==
On a warm spring morning in rural England, the Mole is busy spring-cleaning his home. He grows tired of it and digs a tunnel up to the surface, where he marvels in the beauty of springtime. After arriving at the river, he befriends the Rat (who is actually a water vole), who makes his home beside the river and spends his time in boats. They become fast friends during a picnic and get to meet some other characters in the story: brave Otter, solitary Badger, and eccentric Toad. Rat invites Mole to live with him for a little while as he teaches him how to row and swim.
Summer comes, and Mole wants to properly greet Toad, who is rich and owns a manor called Toad Hall. Toad is shown to be friendly and jovial but is also aimless and arrogant. becoming obsessed with a fad one day and skipping to the other the next. On this day, Toad has given up boating and has decided to travel in his horse-drawn carriage, inviting Mole and Rat to join him. They haven't gone long when they run afoul of some people speeding along in their motorcar, upsetting the carriage and startling the horse. Toad is fascinated with the motorcar and abandons carriages to go to the next fad: motorcars.
Mole has wanted to pay a visit to Badger for some time. Rat, however, knows that Badger doesn't like visits because he's not a fan of society and advises against going to find him. On a cold late fall day, Mole goes off on his own to the Wild Wood, where Badger lives. He gets lost, frightened by the less welcoming residents of the Wild Wood, and hides in a hole in a tree. Rat gets an idea where Mole may be and heads off to the Wild Wood, with a pistol and a cudgel on hand. He does find his friend hiding in a hollowed-out tree and waits until Mole recovers.
While finding their way home, they literally stumble across Badger's house; Mole had tripped over a boot scraper on Badger's doorstep. Badger has been ready to go to bed and is at first irritable at being disturbed, but he recognizes Rat and Mole and welcomes them warmly, inviting them to spend the night in his large and cozy underground home. The two travelers are provided warm food and dry clothes, and the three have a good time talking with each other. It's also when Badger promises that when summer comes around, he'll help Mole and Rat snap Toad out of his fad obsessions.
In the cold winter days of December, Mole senses his old home nearby and wants to find it. Rat - at first not understanding the situation - decides to help his friend out, first with finding the home and then tidying it up so that it becomes livable again. They invite some mice singing Christmas carols into Mole's house for dinner, when they have a good time. Mole isn't ready to give up his life of adventures with Rat, but he's at least happy to have his old home to come back to.
Summer arrives, and Badger arrives at Rat's house to announce that it's time to snap Toad out of his reckless behavior. They head over to Toad Hall, where Badger tries talking Toad out of his obsession with motor cars. When Toad refuses to change his ways, his friends place him under house arrest, guarding his room until he sees the error of his ways. Soon, Toad pretends to be sick and tricks Rat, escaping. Rat is scolded for being gullible, but Badger and Mole relent and are at least happy to not waste more time with Toad.
Toad comes across a motorcar in the village and decides to drive in it. He crashes it and is arrested, thrown into the dungeon for twenty years. It's thanks to kindness from the jailer's daughter that he's able to break out of prison in the guise of a washerwoman. He asks for help from an engineer and a horse-drawn barge. He briefly gets hired by the barge woman, but he gets thrown into the river after botching up the recent load of laundry. In revenge, Toad steals the woman's horse and sells it to a gypsy. He comes across the same motorcar that he stole and got arrested for, won over by his passion and ends up stealing it. This gets the attention of the police, who chase him until he falls into the river with the motorcar.
While Toad has his adventures, there are two other stories about his riverside friends. The first has Mole and Rat looking for Otter's lost son Portly, Otter worried that Portly never goes missing for too long. Fortunately, they do find him unharmed and in the presence of the Greek satyr Pan. Pan removes their memories of this meeting ''"lest the awful remembrance should remain and grow, and overshadow mirth and pleasure"''.
The second story tells of Rat feeling restless one late summer day, as if something is missing from his life. He meets a sea rat who tells him about his adventures out at sea, exploring places like Greece and Italy. Tempted and going crazy, Rat tries to abandon his riverside home, but Mole snaps him out of it. To Rat's credit, he does come to his senses and decides to stay by the river, but he does get inspired by the stories that the sea rat has told him.
Back with Toad's adventure, Toad drifts a while before coming to the home of Rat, who brings him to his house. Mole and Badger had stayed at Toad Hall and have been keeping things there in order until the weasels, stoats, and ferrets from the Wild Wood chased them out. Toad regrets what he has put his three friends through and promises to make it up to them, and the four friends come up with a plan to drive them out and take back Toad Hall.
Once the Wild Wood animals are driven out, Toad is to host a feast for all of his neighbors, to herald his return. He is discouraged from singing songs or making speeches during this, which at first disheartens the amphibian. Toad sings one song to himself and confidently attends the feast, becoming a more humble animal, making up for his wrongdoings by seeking out and compensating those he had wronged. After this, he, Mole, Rat, and Badger live peacefully and happily ever after in the English countryside.
[[Category:Novels]]
[[Category:Novels]]
[[Category:Children's Literature]]
[[Category:Children's Literature]]