Watership Down French word for rabbit. "Watership Down" has been described as an allegory, with the labours of Hazel, Fiver, Bigwig, and Silver "mirror[ing] the timeless struggles between tyranny and freedom, reason and blind emotion, and the individual and the corporate state." Adams draws on classical heroic and quest themes from Homer and Virgil, creating a story with epic motifs. The book explores the themes of exile, survival, heroism, leadership, political responsibility, and the "making of a hero and a community". Joan Bridgman's analysis of Adams's works in "The Contemporary Review" identifies the community and hero motifs: "[T]he hero's journey into a
North Wessex Downs of the AONB can be found Watership Down where the book "Watership Down" by Richard Adams is set, to the north of the small market town of Whitchurch, Hampshire. Significant parts of "Jude the Obscure" by Thomas Hardy are set on and in the villages connected to the Berkshire Downs. The Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty was designated in 1972. It is currently managed by a Council of Partners whose members are: North Wessex Downs The North Wessex Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) (also known as the Chalkenwolds) is located in the English counties of West Berkshire, Hampshire,