15: Bigwig's Character and the Lost Paragraph  

 

15.1 Burrowkeeping  

 

I made my favourite mistake yet last week, when I referred to 'The Warren of the Snares' as 'The Warren of the Swears' 

 

That would make for a completely different story. One where they have to leave Cowslip's Warren because Fiver has an issue with all the bad language. Which is a bit rich for a rabbit who comes out with such potty-mouthed stuff as "embleer Frith".  

 

15.2: Bigwig's Character and the Lost Paragraph revisited. 

 

I have come to the view that the character the TV portrayals have got most wrong is Bigwig, though Michael Graham Cox's portrayal  of  him in the 1978 film got him just about right. 

In the 1999 TV series he is portrayed by Stephen Mangan largely as a self-important buffoon, with his Owsla training becoming a running joke. His portrayal improves, though, in the very distinct third series.  

 

The recent Netflix series made him far too aggressive in my view. It is the script that demands this aggression as it changes the whole tone of how he talks to Hazel and his attitude towards him is made far less supportive.  

 

 Yes Bigwig is capable of being overbearing and aggressive. But, like all good military types, that is not what he is all about. It is a nuance that I think is possibly sadly lost on a civilian population where such qualities are increasingly seen in a negative light. But in a world where you can be killed at any time, they can be essential.  

 

And we need to always bear in mind, of course, that Adams drew heavily on his experience in the military to create the characters in WD. This is a major reason (or excuse?) for the sexism of the novel. He was simply drawing on his relevant experience of a very male world. 

 

So...back to the Lost Paragraph. Could Bigwig's put down of Hazel be seen as the kind of harsh-but-necessary comment a Non commissioned officer might share with a commissioned officer? Though hopefully out of the hearing of the lower ranks.  

 

I make this distinction as Hazel has only just gained responsibility for the group, whereas Bigwig has, arguably, been trained for such a role by experience. Or so he could he forgiven for thinking. 

 

Or is what he says just bullying and unnecessary? 

 

In either case, I agree with John that the tension it sets up is essential to the story. Though I have very much seen the other view expressed, that Bigwig's character is better without it. This is the Bigwig who just says "Splendid!" when he sees Hazel, possibly keeping his true thoughts to himself. 

 

This Lost Paragraph really will not go away though. For good reason. 

 

15.3 The Lost Paragraph analysed  

 

It appears that the lost paragraph appeared in a minority of of the editions I have information on. So this becomes an exercise in chasing its presence rather than its absence, which actually makes this a bit simpler. 

 

My provisional conclusion is this: 

The version first sent to Rex Collings  in 1972 was missing the Lost Paragraph. Then, when Penguin became interested, they were sent a version that included it in 1973. This became the version that appeared in all their editions, both Puffin, their childrens’ division, and Penguin. 

The Kestrel illustrated edition used the penguin version as its text, so the Lost Paragraph ended up in that edition, from 1976. 

And the 1978 Martin Rosen film used the Penguin edition as their base text, which is why it appears in the film. 

I would welcome any further information on this subject. In particular anything that blows my theory out of the water. 

I will be posting images of my spreadsheet analysis to the Facebook page for scrutiny. Please note that green signifies the lost paragraph being present and red means it was absent. 

 

15.4 Next episode  

 

Next week I return to going through the book and we begin Part Two with perhaps the pivotal Chapter of the entire story. 

 

A chapter with the title...Watership Down.