Is the mythology of the sun god Frith and El-ahrairah flawed? Well of course it is if you look at it too closely.
At one point in desperation Hazel tries to bargain with Lord Frith "my life for theirs", but Firth replies,
"There is not a day or night but a doe offers her life for her kittens, or some honest captain of Owsla his life for his Chief Rabbit's. Sometimes it is taken, sometimes it is not. But there is no bargain, for here, what is, is what must be."
That's stone cold stoicism where God doesn't even help those who help themselves. It's a naturalistic religion which could certainly be interpreted as social Darwinism with themes of overpopulation and population control. It's quite troubling if you really think about it or try to apply it outside of its context. But the real question is why did I think about it in the first place? Richard Adams developed a fictional rabbit religion that fairly and squarely solves the problem of evil. Fascinating thought, I think.
If something is perfect it is closed, final and finished. If something is thought provoking or ambiguous it is inherently open. When the Sandleford rabbits find themselves trapped between the hombre and the river, Bigwig shouts, "every rabbit for himself" but Hazel refuses. Neither is wrong from Lord Frith's point of view. Social solidarity is something that is developed separately to the religion/mythology of Lord Frith and El-ahrairah.
It is the conceptual flaws themselves that open up your thoughts in this story. But also your emotions. I find this part where Hazel is begging Lord Frith for help to be devastating in ways I find hard to express or even justify. For me there is something about it which is absolutely heartbreaking. But even here it is not about the perfect heartbreaking story, but about how it resonates with me. It very probably doesn't resonate with you in quite the same way. If I had first seen this at a different more cynical time in my life it wouldn't resonate with me in the same way.
The whole thing is sort of shakey if you want to pick it apart and test its perfectness. It is a story about anthropomorphised rabbits after all, it cannot possibly have a sense of completeness to it and therefore there can be no sense of perfection to it. And that's where the wonder of it resides. More nourishing than mere perfection.
At one point in desperation Hazel tries to bargain with Lord Frith "my life for theirs", but Firth replies,
"There is not a day or night but a doe offers her life for her kittens, or some honest captain of Owsla his life for his Chief Rabbit's. Sometimes it is taken, sometimes it is not. But there is no bargain, for here, what is, is what must be."
That's stone cold stoicism where God doesn't even help those who help themselves. It's a naturalistic religion which could certainly be interpreted as social Darwinism with themes of overpopulation and population control. It's quite troubling if you really think about it or try to apply it outside of its context. But the real question is why did I think about it in the first place? Richard Adams developed a fictional rabbit religion that fairly and squarely solves the problem of evil. Fascinating thought, I think.
If something is perfect it is closed, final and finished. If something is thought provoking or ambiguous it is inherently open. When the Sandleford rabbits find themselves trapped between the hombre and the river, Bigwig shouts, "every rabbit for himself" but Hazel refuses. Neither is wrong from Lord Frith's point of view. Social solidarity is something that is developed separately to the religion/mythology of Lord Frith and El-ahrairah.
It is the conceptual flaws themselves that open up your thoughts in this story. But also your emotions. I find this part where Hazel is begging Lord Frith for help to be devastating in ways I find hard to express or even justify. For me there is something about it which is absolutely heartbreaking. But even here it is not about the perfect heartbreaking story, but about how it resonates with me. It very probably doesn't resonate with you in quite the same way. If I had first seen this at a different more cynical time in my life it wouldn't resonate with me in the same way.
The whole thing is sort of shakey if you want to pick it apart and test its perfectness. It is a story about anthropomorphised rabbits after all, it cannot possibly have a sense of completeness to it and therefore there can be no sense of perfection to it. And that's where the wonder of it resides. More nourishing than mere perfection.
) that Watership Down is a perfect film. In fact if I have to die on any hill it will be this hill.
