Your favourite character and why?

[Azerane]

Jun 17, 2011 15:51:28 GMT 9.5 Tima said:

In the beginning of the book there seems to be a slight power struggle over who has the final word in the rabbit group, Hazel or Bigwig. Slowly but surely the definite leader ends up being Hazel. Once it's become obvious that Hazel's the one who leads, I like that Bigwig is completely alright with that. In fact, in moments of conflict and grumbling, Bigwig often becomes the one who stands by Hazel and encourages (or sometimes bullies :p) the other rabbits into obeying Hazel's command.

I like that Hazel just isn't a fighter, warrior or a soldier like Bigwig, Silver or Holly, but he attempts to lead his rabbits as fairly as he can, and thus he manages to earn the complete loyalty and trust of his warren; they would follow him to the ends of the earth. It's the great thing about Hazel. He's not the strongest rabbit ever and then he even gets an injury that causes him to limp, but the warren just respects him too much for the way he has lead them, and they would not challenge his authority.

That's exactly one of the things I like as well. Especially with a character like Bigwig, as he is described as an 'act first and ask questions later' kind of character, you expect to see trouble from him regarding leadership of the band, and you expect him to cause trouble (which he somewhat does at Cowslips warren when Fiver is making it hard for them) however he sticks by Hazel. I think partly because of Hazel's level-headedness and courage, and especially after Hazel gets himself out of the ditch instead of Bigwig when they think the Black Rabbit is calling him.

I especially like when Captain Holly joins them on the down, and you know that he's immediately recognised how fiercly loyal the rabbits are to Hazel and the respect they have for him. His ability to show that loyalty by not having a desire to take over as chief rabbit based on the other character's opinions of Hazel shows how much he respects Hazel for that.

I think one of the reasons Hazel wins so much loyalty from the others, is because he is so fiercly loyal himself. He sees himself as being responsible for them as he is the one who led them away from Sandleford. Because of that, he doesn't want to leave any of them behind, or put them in any more danger than they need to be in and he looks out for every one of them. He was always concerned about cleaning out the other's wounds and basically looking out for everyone.