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54: The one after they finished the book
54: The one after they finished the book
Scripted by John Ruths and Newell Fisher
Well...we did it. We went through the entire 1972 novel in detail, taking just short of a year.
About half way through that year, having started out never having podcasted ever before, I hit one of the largest crises of my adult-life, and this podcast was only able to remain weekly as a result of John Ruth's extensive assistance with the script.
And when I say "extensive", I mean that he has written most of the words you have heard me say on the podcast since episode 33: The Great River.
I really cannot express my gratitude to John enough and hope to become more active in scripting from this point forward. He probably needs a rest!
This, effectively, is the first episode of Season 2 of this podcast.
So...what happens now?
I plan to pause for 4 episodes now we have finished the book.
Then the 1978 film version: approximately 20 episodes.
After that the sequel 'Tales from WD', published in 1996: about 20 episodes.
After that an analysis of the 1999 TV series: about 40 episodes.
After that I plan to look at the 2018 Netflix version. And then there is the graphic novel that comes out later this year.
It may well be that this podcast, ultimately, has a limited shelf-life as an ongoing current podcast, rather than an archive. If so...so be it.
Is WD an allegory? (John Ruths)
"The simple answer is, no, it is not. In an allegory, the characters, places, and even events represent hidden meaning with moral or political significance. Animal Farm is a great example of a political allegory--specifically, the Russian Revolution.
However, in WD the characters are more archetypal and many of them are personifications. We get characters that represent basic character types:
Hazel: I'd say that Hazel is leadership personified. Now, our Hazel does not necessarily have all of the typical leader tropes. He's not the biggest or the strongest. He's not even the smartest! Hazel is smart, and he starts off as a rabbit who would have likely ended up in the Sandleford Warren Owsla.
Fiver: The seer and visionary. Without his initial vision, there would not have been a reason for our small band to leave Sandleford in the first place. Most likely, most of them would have stopped running. They continue and they continue to pay off for our group of rabbits that eventually grow into a successful warren. Fiver is also highly intuitive but Richard Adams makes it a point to make another rabbit that we'll discuss even smarter.
Bigwig: Strength personified. He represents brute strength and I'd also say tenacity. Bigwig is not only the best fighter in Watership Down, he's really the best fighter in the entire novel. He demonstrates his strength on many occasions in the book and he has a never-give-up attitude.
Dandelion: Dandelion is two things and I've always found charm in this. Of course, we know that Dandelion is the fastest rabbit so represents speed personified. But he's also the bard of our band of rabbits. Without a written language, rabbits pass their history and beliefs onto future generations via stories.
Bluebell: Well, Bluebell is the other rabbit who can spin a good story. But we also know that Bluebell is also the jokester of our rabbits. In this way, he also represents a fairly archetypal character type and that is the jester.
Blackberry: Intelligence personified. He's clearly the smartest and can conceptualize things that no other rabbit can.
Kehaar: Not so much archetypal but maybe more of a character trope, Kehaar represents the exotic and knowledgeable foreigner.
Once again, just some thoughts on if the novel could be considered an allegory. No, but it does have some ingredients that real allegories often have. It is easy to see how someone can incorrectly classify it in this way."
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By Newell Fisher
4.7
1414 ratings
54: The one after they finished the book
Scripted by John Ruths and Newell Fisher
Well...we did it. We went through the entire 1972 novel in detail, taking just short of a year.
About half way through that year, having started out never having podcasted ever before, I hit one of the largest crises of my adult-life, and this podcast was only able to remain weekly as a result of John Ruth's extensive assistance with the script.
And when I say "extensive", I mean that he has written most of the words you have heard me say on the podcast since episode 33: The Great River.
I really cannot express my gratitude to John enough and hope to become more active in scripting from this point forward. He probably needs a rest!
This, effectively, is the first episode of Season 2 of this podcast.
So...what happens now?
I plan to pause for 4 episodes now we have finished the book.
Then the 1978 film version: approximately 20 episodes.
After that the sequel 'Tales from WD', published in 1996: about 20 episodes.
After that an analysis of the 1999 TV series: about 40 episodes.
After that I plan to look at the 2018 Netflix version. And then there is the graphic novel that comes out later this year.
It may well be that this podcast, ultimately, has a limited shelf-life as an ongoing current podcast, rather than an archive. If so...so be it.
Is WD an allegory? (John Ruths)
"The simple answer is, no, it is not. In an allegory, the characters, places, and even events represent hidden meaning with moral or political significance. Animal Farm is a great example of a political allegory--specifically, the Russian Revolution.
However, in WD the characters are more archetypal and many of them are personifications. We get characters that represent basic character types:
Hazel: I'd say that Hazel is leadership personified. Now, our Hazel does not necessarily have all of the typical leader tropes. He's not the biggest or the strongest. He's not even the smartest! Hazel is smart, and he starts off as a rabbit who would have likely ended up in the Sandleford Warren Owsla.
Fiver: The seer and visionary. Without his initial vision, there would not have been a reason for our small band to leave Sandleford in the first place. Most likely, most of them would have stopped running. They continue and they continue to pay off for our group of rabbits that eventually grow into a successful warren. Fiver is also highly intuitive but Richard Adams makes it a point to make another rabbit that we'll discuss even smarter.
Bigwig: Strength personified. He represents brute strength and I'd also say tenacity. Bigwig is not only the best fighter in Watership Down, he's really the best fighter in the entire novel. He demonstrates his strength on many occasions in the book and he has a never-give-up attitude.
Dandelion: Dandelion is two things and I've always found charm in this. Of course, we know that Dandelion is the fastest rabbit so represents speed personified. But he's also the bard of our band of rabbits. Without a written language, rabbits pass their history and beliefs onto future generations via stories.
Bluebell: Well, Bluebell is the other rabbit who can spin a good story. But we also know that Bluebell is also the jokester of our rabbits. In this way, he also represents a fairly archetypal character type and that is the jester.
Blackberry: Intelligence personified. He's clearly the smartest and can conceptualize things that no other rabbit can.
Kehaar: Not so much archetypal but maybe more of a character trope, Kehaar represents the exotic and knowledgeable foreigner.
Once again, just some thoughts on if the novel could be considered an allegory. No, but it does have some ingredients that real allegories often have. It is easy to see how someone can incorrectly classify it in this way."