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Symbols are objects, characters, figures, and colors used to represent abstract ideas or concepts.
The River
The river is a potent symbol of adventure and wider society for the Mole, who first encounters it in Chapter I. He’s never seen a river before, so he has no idea of its power, its charm, or its extent. While marveling at the river, the Mole meets the Water Rat, who introduces him to the novel’s other characters. They teach him how to be a part of animal society and bring him on adventures that were not possible in his former life underground. The river is vast, with numerous inlets, outlets, fords, and backwaters to explore, allowing it to embody a sense of adventure close to home. Throughout the novel, the Mole and the other animals have a healthy respect for the river’s thrill and adventure. They also value it as a place where they live in harmony with one another and with nature. Eventually, the Mole becomes accustomed to the river’s currents and the social world along its banks, a change that parallels his growth as an adventurer and a valued member of his community.
The Wild Wood
The Wild Wood symbolizes nature’s darker and more dangerous mysteries. The Water Rat is reluctant to talk much about the Wild Wood’s dangers with the Mole because it makes animals fearful to consider the ways nature can be dangerous or difficult to understand. Among the Wild Wood’s threats are dark shadows, unexplored depths, and predatory creatures. The Wild Wood seems designed to frighten, isolate, and harm. It is a quiet place, where the familiar sounds of the river and the wind are muffled, making visitors feel far from the community of the river. Instead of the riverbank’s shiny, colorful splendor, the Wild Wood’s trees cast long, eerie shadows, and fallen logs and other debris rise up to trip the careless traveler. A hungry pack of animals takes advantage of this isolated darkness, lurking in the shadows, waiting for a weak, frightened creature to pass by. Finally, the Wild Wood is largely unknown to creatures like the Water Rat and the Mole, who keep their adventures along the safe, familiar river.
The Toad’s Motor Cars
The Toad’s motor cars symbolize the Toad’s own destructive impulses and the dangerous combination of powerful machinery and a disregard for the natural world. As a member of the landed gentry, the Toad is defined by his possessions rather than by his friends, good deeds, or relationship to nature. He is particularly obsessed with innovative machinery. When a motor car runs him off the road and destroys his horse-drawn caravan, a logical reaction would be anger and frustration at the automobile driver’s carelessness, but the Toad’s reaction is different. The car’s noise, speed, and flash appeal to him so much they put him in a trance that borders on lunacy. Worse, the Toad’s particular madness is driven by a destructive impulse. The Toad doesn’t just want to own a fancy new motor car. He wants to drive it recklessly beyond its limits, to the point of destroying it. Throughout the book, the Toad consistently destroys relationships, tramples on social norms, and damages property. He does not create things. He’ll never be a skilled seaman like the Water Rat, a wise statesman like the Badger, or a kind friend like the Mole. But he can use his inherited wealth to buy motor cars and crash them into things, without any regard for the consequences.
