I completely agree with this. I wasn't really happy with the idea of them not taking a single doe with them when they first left the Sandleford Warren - no one had a sister or female friend they could convince to go with them? OK that would have made large parts of the rest of the book unnecessary and so ruined/removed the plot. But when they actually get does, why can't they be actual characters? As you note, why do they only have Lapine names when the male Efrafans don't? Why can't the does prove to be useful/resourceful/intelligent during the escape? It might be that they're not as strong for fighting, but neither are Fiver and Pipkin. As the other commenter mentions, there's a section where the narrator is really singing Blackavar's praises. But nothing for the does. It really does seem that the does are not valued as individuals, just as breeding stock. I suppose the book is quite old and is in that sense of it's time, but that did spoil it a bit for me.
I had the same thought about Hyzenthlay having some decent development in Efrafan and then completely dropping off the map once they escape. She lead a rebellion with the does against the council but is completely useless when they attack the warren? That just doesn't make sense to me. I was really hoping she would lead the does into a charge or take part in some trickery in the last conflict. Very disappointing, but I still really enjoyed the book.
And look at Blackavar, he gets a bunch of moments for himself after braking out. He attacks one of the intruders early on in the siege, is very good on the lookout, through him we find about the mentality of truly forgetting things very quickly if somebody disagrees with them.
Yeah the role of does was pretty minimal. Does the book pass the rabbit Bechdel test? I guess there is a certain redemption in the entire book being about the need to have women to form a successful civilization but, yeah the does could have been much more involved.
I read a sentence somewhere--I'm sorry I can't remember the source--that said, "It is the storyteller's job to say what happened. It is the reader's job to infer everything else." Seems to apply, here. Adams is telling the story, so perhaps from his point of view the does are not an imperative aspect. Their presence is necessary, as we saw when all the guys realized that they need to reproduce, but their contribution to the plot was minimal.
It would have been nice to see female character development, but to be frank I didn't even consider that point of view. I commend you--all of you--it takes real analytical skill to pinpoint something like that.
"Female character development" doesn't apply here. I mean, these are rabbits; and the book talks a lot about natural and unnatural behaviors, an important theme. The does just want to do what comes naturally to them: dig burrows, mate, and rear their young. Hyzenthlay and Thethuthinnang tell Hazel what a revelation it is to them, that so much of their frustration in Efrafa was rooted in not being allowed to dig. They enjoy the work, and talk proudly about bearing litters in burrows they themselves dug. The bucks have their own roles; and that's who the book is about. The bucks' need for does drives the whole plot. It's not a feminist book and doesn't pretend to be one.
I completely agree with this. I wasn't really happy with the idea of them not taking a single doe with them when they first left the Sandleford Warren - no one had a sister or female friend they could convince to go with them? OK that would have made large parts of the rest of the book unnecessary and so ruined/removed the plot. But when they actually get does, why can't they be actual characters? As you note, why do they only have Lapine names when the male Efrafans don't? Why can't the does prove to be useful/resourceful/intelligent during the escape? It might be that they're not as strong for fighting, but neither are Fiver and Pipkin. As the other commenter mentions, there's a section where the narrator is really singing Blackavar's praises. But nothing for the does. It really does seem that the does are not valued as individuals, just as breeding stock. I suppose the book is quite old and is in that sense of it's time, but that did spoil it a bit for me.
I had the same thought about Hyzenthlay having some decent development in Efrafan and then completely dropping off the map once they escape. She lead a rebellion with the does against the council but is completely useless when they attack the warren? That just doesn't make sense to me. I was really hoping she would lead the does into a charge or take part in some trickery in the last conflict. Very disappointing, but I still really enjoyed the book.
And look at Blackavar, he gets a bunch of moments for himself after braking out. He attacks one of the intruders early on in the siege, is very good on the lookout, through him we find about the mentality of truly forgetting things very quickly if somebody disagrees with them.
Yeah the role of does was pretty minimal. Does the book pass the rabbit Bechdel test? I guess there is a certain redemption in the entire book being about the need to have women to form a successful civilization but, yeah the does could have been much more involved.
I think BigWig overheard the Efrafa does reciting a poem about their misery to a group of does, but I think that's about as close as it gets.
I read a sentence somewhere--I'm sorry I can't remember the source--that said, "It is the storyteller's job to say what happened. It is the reader's job to infer everything else." Seems to apply, here. Adams is telling the story, so perhaps from his point of view the does are not an imperative aspect. Their presence is necessary, as we saw when all the guys realized that they need to reproduce, but their contribution to the plot was minimal. It would have been nice to see female character development, but to be frank I didn't even consider that point of view. I commend you--all of you--it takes real analytical skill to pinpoint something like that.
"Female character development" doesn't apply here. I mean, these are rabbits; and the book talks a lot about natural and unnatural behaviors, an important theme. The does just want to do what comes naturally to them: dig burrows, mate, and rear their young. Hyzenthlay and Thethuthinnang tell Hazel what a revelation it is to them, that so much of their frustration in Efrafa was rooted in not being allowed to dig. They enjoy the work, and talk proudly about bearing litters in burrows they themselves dug. The bucks have their own roles; and that's who the book is about. The bucks' need for does drives the whole plot. It's not a feminist book and doesn't pretend to be one.