Convenient time to pull Hazel aside

[Myrkin]

Do you remember when in the book Hawkbit, Acorn and Speedwell want to go back to Sandleford Warren and Hazel tries to discourage them from doing so? Then comes Fiver and asks Hazel, if they can talk privately. They go away, while Bigwig scolds Hawkbit and the rest.

I read somewhere a theory that Fiver knew what was going to happen with Bigwig joining the argument and knew it was necessary to keep group together. Therefore, he lead Hazel away, so the latter wouldn't get involved in the events that were going to unfold. That way, Bigwig could force trio to submit, while Hazel could still be seen as reasonable and kind leader. It was a case of bad-cop/good-cop, so to speak.

While I think that theory makes some sense, I don't think Fiver was deliberate about pulling Hazel aside and really wanted only to show him Watership Down in the distance. I think Richard Adams (while writing the scene of argument with Acorn, Hawkbit and Speedwell) realized, that if he is going to let Bigwig use force to keep H-A-S in line, then he has to make sure that Hazel isn't around when that happens. If Hazel was present, then he wouldn't let Bigwig threaten the others, which could lead to big confrontation between those two and that would be very bad for the group. Adams couldn't also write Hazel as simply watching without a word of protest, because that wouldn't fit right with Hazel's characterization. The only solution for author was to give Fiver a need to talk with Hazel, to show him their destination and a vision of problems on their road. No confrontation between Bigwig and Hazel; our rabbit trio was forced to keep going; Hazel's characterization was preserved. Problem solved.


Hmm... I see now that what I said isn't much different from that theory. I just moved "the blame" from Fiver to Richard Adams. Oh, well...

And what do you think about this situation?

[Hawkbit]

I don't know how to interpret this....I think Hazel, being the leader he was, might've responded very differently to the situation.  Bigwig was far more brash on the journey than Hazel, and I think Hazel would've still stood up to the trio because they couldn't have stragglers.  Probably the same result in the end, but whos to say...that's not how it was written.

[Myrkin]

True, Hazel would eventually talked them out of going back. However, since Bigwig decided to intervene, the chances for resolving this problem without resorting to violance dropped significantly IMO. After all, it is written in the book that only after his adventure with snare, Bigwig "become less overbearing". Before that event, I don't think Bigwig would have much patience for trying to reason with trio, no matter what Hazel would say.