Watership Down

Gather initial thoughts and broad opinions about the book.

1. Adams balances realistic rabbit behavior with human-like reasoning and speech. How did this affect your engagement with the story?

2. How does Watership Down compare to Adams’s other works like The Plague Dogs in its exploration of animal consciousness and human intervention? If this is your first encounter with Adams, what novels have you read that are similar? 

3. Which aspects of the storytelling in Watership Down resonated most strongly with you and why?

Encourage readers to connect the book’s themes and characters with their personal experiences.

1. Hazel succeeds as a leader by recognizing and utilizing the unique strengths of each member of his group. When have you witnessed, experienced, or practiced this kind of leadership in your own life?

2. Have you ever had to make a difficult decision based on intuition rather than evidence, similar to how the rabbits trust Fiver’s unexplainable predictions?

3. Which character in the novel do you identify with most strongly, and what qualities or experiences do you share with them?

4. The contrast between Cowslip’s warren (comfortable but dangerous) and Watership Down (challenging but free) presents different value systems.