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Summary
Chapter IV. Mr. Badger
The Badger welcomes the Water Rat and the Mole in from the snow to a worn but spacious kitchen. The Badger gives them fresh clothing, tends to Mole’s wounded shin and sympathizes with their story of getting lost. After supper, the Mole and Water Rat tell the Badger that the Toad has now wrecked six motorcars and been hospitalized three times. They agree that the Toad is in danger of killing someone, and then they go to sleep. The next morning at the Badger’s table there are two hedgehogs, who were also rescued from the snow. The Badger has already breakfasted and is asleep in the study.
The Otter arrives in search of the Water Rat and the Mole, and he recounts the snowy delights he found in the woods. Then, he tells them that he chastised the rabbit who ignored the Mole’s pleas for help. The Otter and the Water Rat talk about the river, while the Badger and the Mole talk about how delightful it is to be safely underground. After lunch, the Badger shows the Mole around his chambers, which include the ruins of an old city, and he tells the Mole how the Wild Wood evolved. The Badger accepts all of its creatures, and he promises to spread the word that the Mole is under his protection. Upon their return, they find the Water Rat anxious to be back at the river, so the Badger takes them through a tunnel to the edge of the wood. The Mole realizes that he feels most at home in the cultivated fields.
Chapter V. Dulce Domum
The Mole and the Water Rat travel home through a village, where they peek through house windows to view the cozy domestic scenes. Past the village, the Mole feels a strong pull to visit his old home, which he has not been to since his first adventure with the Water Rat. The Water Rat wants to get to his own home, and the Mole will not abandon him. Then the Mole begins to cry, and the Water Rat regrets that he didn’t pay attention to the Mole before. They go back to the Mole’s home, Mole End, which welcomes them with a gracefully decorated courtyard.
The Mole feels bad for keeping the Water Rat from his own home, but the Water Rat enjoys exploring the Mole’s comfortable home and compliments him on his practical use of space. Field mice carol outside, and the Water Rat invites them in for a warm meal that the Water Rat prepares from the things the Mole has on hand. They eat, drink, and make merry until the wee hours before the field mice leave. The Mole and Water Rat go to bed, where the Mole reflects upon the sweetness of his home, even as he feels the pull of life above ground.
Analysis
Each of the characters has distinctive traits that are accentuated by their chosen dwelling places. The Mole is a nervous little creature and prone to quickly shifting feelings, including excitability, rapture, fear, and nostalgia. The Badger dislikes company and emotional extremes. Despite their differences, both find life underground ideal for its safety and tranquility. They enjoy trips above ground, but their true idea of home is being snugly tucked away underground. By contrast, the Otter and the Water Rat thrive on the adventure of the river, and also on the local gossip. They enjoy socializing and love talking about all the folks who live by the river’s banks. As they fish in the river’s shoals, they can chat forever about their experiences navigating it. They are far more social creatures than the animals who live underground. They also take life easier and adapt to quick changes of fortune. Regardless of their individual differences, each character becomes most himself at home.
Many cultures consider hospitality to be a sacred responsibility, as do the animals in The Wind in the Willows. After the Mole’s misadventure in the snowstorm, he and the Water Rat are forced to intrude upon the solitary Badger. Both the Water Rat and the Badger have every reason to be angry with the Mole, but he is given a king’s welcome in the Badger’s home. The Badger extends the same warm welcome to the hedgehogs, who at other times might have been the Badger’s dinner. The good-natured Otter even chastises the rabbit for failing to help the Mole when he was being hunted in the Wild Wood. Later, the Water Rat and the Mole offer a similar welcome to the field mice who sing them a Christmas carol. Adding to the theme of hospitality, the song is about the welcome Joseph and Mary received at the inn in Bethlehem on the night Jesus was born. None of these creatures care much about manners, but a breach of hospitality is a serious offense.
Dulce domum is Latin for “sweetly home,” but the chapter captures the mixed emotions that are often connected to the idea of home. Home can be a place we return to, but it’s also a place we leave in order to fulfill our needs. The Mole is delighted with the Badger’s intricate, snug chambers, which are familiar to him. The experience of being underground leads to the nostalgia that the Mole experiences later. The domestic scenes the Mole and the Water Rat witness in the village also set the scene for the longing for home the Mole and Water Rat feel. This sets up the Mole to be drawn home instinctually. During his time away, he has gained experience and friends, and he does not want to leave the new life he has built. But he also does not want to abandon his past. The two competing ways of life tear his heart in two, as he cannot embrace either one wholeheartedly. The Water Rat, seeing his pain, teaches him how to come home, how to enjoy its simple pleasures, and how to venture forth with home comfortably and solidly at his back.
