Watership Down by Richard Adams teaches you that leaders are made!
Are you looking for a book that teaches leadership lessons without the business lingo? Are you looking for children books that teach lessons? Then Watership Down by Richard Adams may be the book for you. Read the Waterhsip Down summary, and I'm sure you'll agree.Watership Down
Watership Down by Richard Adams demonstrates leadership in action. When you read the book, you'll know what great leadership is.
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Below, you'll find my Watership Down Summary. Watership Down by Richard Adams is one of the best leadership books I have ever read.
Book Pairing: Watership Down and The Hobbit
Watership Down A Novel
The Hobbit
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Watership Down Summary: 10 Leadership Lessons
- Have a vision.
- Practice active listening.
- Be willing to do what you ask others to do.
- Ask for help when necessary.
- Learn to delegate.
- Have a team of trusted advisors.
- Know how to negotiate.
- Treat others with respect.
- Persistence pays.
- Learn from failure.
Why Watership Down by Richard Adams Still Matters Today
First published in 1972, Watership Down by Richard Adams is a fantasy novel. The novel matters today because it is a demonstration of true leadership and team work. A group of 11 rabbits leave their warren to seek a new home. The book is about the rabbits’ odyssey.
The Hero’s Journey is evident in the book: The rabbits get the call to go on a journey and have to leave the only home they ever know. They accept the call and embark on the journey and are exiled from their land. While on the journey, they experience many trials and tribulations, and face many dangers. But they survive these hardships along the way and are changed by the experience. They pass on the experience and the lessons learned to their offspring in the form of storytelling.
Why Richard Adams is Qualified to Write Watership Down
While on road trips with his daughters, Juliet and Rosamond, Richard Adams kept them entertained by telling stories about rabbits. He based the struggles the rabbits experienced, on the struggles he and other soldiers experienced, during the Battle of Oosterbeek, Arnhem, the Netherlands in 1944. These stories form the basis for Watership Down.
According to Wikipedia:
“Adams descriptions of wild rabbit behaviour were based on The Private Life of the Rabbit (1964), by British naturalist Ronald Lockley…. Although it was initially rejected by 13 publishers before eventually being accepted by Rex Collings Ltd, Watership Down has never been out of print, and was the recipient of several prestigious awards.
It is Penguin Books’ best-selling novel of all time, and has been adapted into an acclaimed classic film and a television series.In 1996, Adams published Tales from Watership Down, a follow-up collection of 19 short stories about El-ahrairah and the rabbits of the Watership Down warren.”
Watership Down Summary: What is the Novel, Watership Down by Richard Adams About?
Watership Down Character Names
Fiver, a rabbit, diminutive in stature, has the second sight. He has a vision, foreseeing impending doom for their warren. Fiver and his brother Hazel go to see the Chief Rabbit, Threarah – meaning Lord Rowan Tree – begging him to evacuate the warren. They fail to convince Threarah. But they persuade their friends Blackberry and Dandelion of the danger and ask them to try to persuade other rabbits to join them as they take up the quest.
Fiver, Hazel, Pipkin, a friend of Fiver, Hawkbit, Dandelion, Blackberry, Bigwig, Buckthorn, Speedwell, Acorn and Silver embark on the journey they are called to take to get away from the destruction of their warren. Bigwig and Silver are members of Owsla the warren’s militia. Hazel who is leading the journey is glad to have Bigwig because of his size, but he is concerned that the large rabbit will question his leadership. Despite that, Hazel welcomes the presence of Bigwig.
11 Rabbits Start the Journey
The eleven rabbits embark on their quest to discover another habitat. They are stopped by Captain Holly and two other rabbits from the Owsla. They have come to arrest Bigwig and Silver. Bigwig is charged with:
“Spreading dissension and inciting to mutiny.” “Silver, you’re under arrest too, for failing to report to Toadflax this evening and causing your duty to devolve on a comrade. You’re both to come with me.”
Bigwig fights back and the other rabbits come to his assistance. Hazel tells Captain Holly and the two rabbits to leave or else they will die.
The Rabbits Face Many Obstacles
As the story unfolds and the 11 rabbits continue on their journey, the reader gets to see that storytelling is a big part of their culture. They face many dangers along the way. However, they overcome them because survival is big for them. When they come across a river, they wonder how they are going to cross it because rabbits do not swim. But like any other creature, if placed in a tight corner, they do what it takes to survive. They find a piece of wood and that helps them to cross the river.
It’s not smooth sailing for the rabbits and at times they want to return home, yet the soldier on. When a crow attacks Pipkin, the larger rabbits come to his rescue and fight it off.
Things Are Not Always What They Seem
On their journey, they come across Cowslip, a very healthy looking rabbit, who welcomes them to his warren. Fiver doesn’t think they should have anything to do with Cowslip and his warren. Though the rabbits in this warren are healthy, there is something very unnatural about them. They do not behave in a very ‘rabbit-like' manner. And they carry food to the warren to store. They steal lettuce and carrots from an unguarded garden and they never stop to think why a farmer would do that. The other peculiar thing about these rabbits is that they never answer questions that begin with where.
These rabbits have their heads in the sand, and when rabbits from the warren disappear, they pretend that it never happened. The farmer sets traps, which kill them, yet they look the other way. Fiver has another sense of doom and talks to Hazel. However, Hazel is losing his patience with Fiver, because he thinks they can make their home with the other rabbits in their warren. Fiver refuses to sleep inside the warren. He decides to go it alone because he senses the threat. They try to reason with him because it is impossible for a rabbit to survive by himself on such a journey.
When Bigwig is caught in a snare moments later, they realize that what Fiver says is true. Cowslip and the other rabbits from his warren refuse to help in Bigwig’s rescue and won’t even discuss the issue.
They manage to save Bigwig by digging out the peg. The 11 rabbits are very upset with Cowslip and want to kill him and his rabbits, then take over the warren. Fiver tells them they are foolish because the warren is a death-hole.
A Leader Making the Right Decision – Not the Easy One
They leave the warren and continue on their journey to the hills where Fiver says it will be safe. Strawberry follows them because he doesn’t want to stay in the warren with Cowslip and the other rabbits. Now there are a dozen rabbits on this odyssey. You see a team forming with each member, looking out for the others, and working together in a cohesive unit. And most importantly, they trust what Fiver has to say.
Fight for Survival
The 12 rabbits establish a colony at Watership Down. However, Hazel realizes that they cannot survive for very long because there are no female rabbits (does) in the group. The rabbits form an unlikely friendship with Kehaar, an injured seagull who they nurse back to health by bringing him food. When Kehaar gets better, he soars into the sky to scope out other warrens, to help solve the problem of lack of does. He reports back that there is a farm close by with some domesticated rabbits and an overcrowded warren some distance away.
Hazel saves a mouse from a hawk. You see the rabbits realizing that they can coexist with other animals. The mouse promises to return the favor one day. One night they hear an intruder, and it’s none other than Captain Holly, who is in the last stages of exhaustion. Shortly after Bluebell arrives. Holly tells the tale of what happened to their old warren. It turns out that Fiver was correct with his predictions.
“Men will never rest till they’ve spoiled the earth and destroyed the animals…”
The rabbits of Watership Down come up with a plan to ask the leader of the overcrowded warren for some female rabbits to mate with. Before they leave for the warren, they decide that since Hazel is the leader, he should remain behind. Only a few of them travel there and soon discover that the warren is a dystopian society, and they barely manage to escape and return to Watership Down.
Great Leaders are Willing to Take Risks
In the mean time, Hazel has another plan to free the rabbits from the nearby farm. With some difficulty, Hazel manages to free some of the tamed rabbits from the nearby farm. But the rabbits who went to negotiate with members of the faraway warren fail to get any does.
Watership Down by Richard Adams is a compelling story. Although the rabbits complete their odyssey and things work out in the end, it wasn’t easy for them. Life is like that. We face battles that we have to fight. There are things we fear in life. But we have to work through our fear, and not allow it to cripple us.
Great Leaders Do Not Let Fear Cripple Them
When the rabbits escape from Efrafa, the dystopian warren, they do not want to go back because of the atrocities they had seen and experienced from the hands of the ferocious rabbit, General Woundwort. However, to establish a healthy colony, they need to have more does. As the leader, Hazel knows that they have to return to Efrafa despite their fear. On their return to Efrafa, they have a better plan this time. Despite the many dangers they face, they return to Watership Down with more does.
General Woundwort is not accustomed to being outwitted or to losing, so he takes some members of his militia to Watership Down for revenge and to get back the does. The rabbit at Watership Down survive by thinking things through. They know that they are not as strong as the rabbits from Efrafa, so they focus on their strengths, and rely on the advice from Blackberry.
The rabbits that embarked on the odyssey had many different skills that complemented each other: Hazel was courageous, Bigwig strong, Blackberry smart and crafty, and Dandelion and Bluebell were artists who excelled in poetry and storytelling. The mixture of skills allowed them to survive on the journey to their “promised land.”
Watership Down: A Novel
Watership Down [Blu-ray]
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Watership Down Summary? Should You Buy a Copy of Watership Down by Richard Adams?
Watership Down: A Novel
by Richard Adams is one of the best books I have read. Even though the main characters are rabbits, it’s worth the read because there are so many lessons in it. The version I read is published by Penguin and is 478 pages in length. I recommend Watership Down by Richard Adams.
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To Learn Leadership Lessons Avil Wants You to Read These Two Books
In my opinion, Watership Down and The Hobbit, are two books you should read if you want to learn leadership lessons without the business jargon. Both books demonstrate leadership in action. I pair these books, so you'll learn about the unlikely leader.
Richard Adams Books
Watership Down: A NovelThe Plague Dogs: A NovelShardikThe Iron WolfTales from Watership DownTravellerMAIAThe Ship's CatTHE GIRL IN A SWING
If someone clicks on a link and buys something from Amazon, the company will pay me a very small commission. UPDATE: First published in June 2012
