The Wind in the Willows is filled with an aching for home.
Nostalgia as defined in class is the appropriation of a past, specifically
childhood by adults. The author longs for the past, but children can enjoy the
portrayal in this story particularly because the manifestation is through
human-like animals yearning for their piece of the outdoors whether it’s by the
river or in the ground. Their aching is inherently tied to their senses—smell
and sound most commonly. But it the giving up of this longing that fosters
friendship and provides opportunity for progress.
The story
begins with Mole who leaves his home behind and finds a new one amongst friends
by the riverbank. Rat is his closest
confidant and very attached to the water. They enjoy boating together and
walking about. Rat and Mole also adventure with their irresponsible friend
Toad. It is not until Mole ventures away from comfort into the Wild Wood that
he appreciates what he left behind because in the midst of danger, he finds
solace in Badger’s home. “But
underground to come back to at last—that’s my idea of home!” (p. 44) Badger and Mole bond over this commonality, but
Mole’s loyalty remains to Rat, as Rat feels anxious to return to the
riverbank. Because Mole is willing to
sacrifice “home” for his friend, he is able to make a new home. He leaves
behind a life underground for a life by the riverbank, and also gains friends
as he leaves a life of loneliness.
However,
Rat also sacrifices in order to maintain his friendship with Mole. Mole so
dutifully and devotedly follows Rat in their trek back even when the “wafts
from his old home pleaded, whispered, conjured, and finally claimed him
imperiously.” (p. 51) But when Mole breaks down and explains this to Rat
through sobs, Rat is willing to put his own desire for home on hold. I think
Rat is able to make this realization because of how attached he is to the
riverbank and he is able to empathize with Mole. This sacrifice of home for
friends continues.
Mole reminisces as he settles into
his own bed that evening “how much it all meant to him.” (p. 59) The use of
past tense here signifies that he is moving on because he has made a new home
with the Rat. He cherishes the memories of his first home, but he has made new
ones and grown attached to a different place.
Rat struggles with an aching, too,
and ultimately gives it up to stay with Mole. The swallows describe this call
from the South that they feel, and in due time the call back to the North. He
meets a sea rat that makes him desire a bigger body of water to travel on. The
sea rat is also longing; he describes the sounds of his travels: “the song and
tramp of the sailors, the clink of the capstan, and the rattle of the
anchor-chain coming merrily in.” (p. 102) These animals have multiple homes and
Rat thinks to go beyond and find more for himself, but Mole holds him back.
Both Rat and Mole have this
nostalgia for lives away from each other, but their friendship makes the past
and different futures unattainable. In the end, they grow a great deal from
their association with one another. Mole becomes braver and smarter. Rat
becomes softer and more selfless, and, more importantly, has the context in
which to express these things.
The experiences of these animals may represent a yearning on the part of the author. These stories were originally letters to his children. Perhaps they play a part in teaching morality, although as bad as Toad is, his friends still love him. Instead then maybe it is a message to cherish friendships while they last and do all you can to help them last. There is also a message of spirituality and the sound that Rat catches in the wind first, and then Mole. They are led by a creature to Portly and there's this spiritual moment that's tied to this aching for nature caused by the sounds and feelings that draw them to it. But the message carried in the song is to forget. The author is ultimately saying we have to let go of things to grab hold of others just as Mole leaves his abode to be with Rat.
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