The idea of one's home and making a home for oneself is presented through the entirety of Watership Down and many of the critical events in the book lead a group of rabbits to create what they truly believe is the place that they can call home. When Fiver, Hazel and many others leave the warren, they are not just leaving because of Fiver’s pessimistic predictions but because they believe they can make something for themselves. The motivation that comes from finding or creating a new home drives the group of rabbits and leads to many of the major events that both aid and hinder the rabbits’ progress. During the initial journey to Watership Down the group finds a warren that is underpopulated, but has no sign of struggle or disease and has …show more content…
The heather and the stumbling darkness were forgotten as though the sunrise had melted them.” (Adams 59). Home is essential not just for shelter but for peace and comfort in a terrifying world as is shown by the rabbits being at peace almost immediately after they arrived at a seemingly friendly warren. Both rabbits and men alike, when in a new or old home, can easily forget their troubles or objectives. This new feeling of home does cause the rabbits to forget about their initial quest for some time until Hazel realizes he had not seen Fiver for many days. Fiver rejects the new warren saying that the warren is unnatural and that these rabbits do not behave like any others. At first Hazel believes that Fiver must be speaking nonsense, however, after Bigwig is caught in a snare and the discovery of many other snares surrounding the warren is made by Fiver, the group immediately abandons the warren and continues on to find their own home, free from human intervention. Once the rabbits are nearly to Watership Down, Hazel hears what he describes as “a distant but clear sound—a kind of wailing or crying, wavering and intermittent. Although it did not sound like any sort of hunting call, it was so unnatural that it filled him with