Character Analysis Of Kenneth Grahame's The Wind In The Willows

Kenneth Grahame’s The Wind in the Willows was first told as a series of bedtime stories to his son, Alastair. Since The Wind in the Willows was first told to entertain a child, Kenneth Grahame’s book is written similar to a bedtime story, allowing Grahame to really have fun with this book. Kenneth Grahame has avoided typical conventions. Rather than creating a story with a moral lesson for young children, Grahame has indulged himself through his characters by avoiding realism and focusing on family while also dealing with his own fears regarding the status of the class structure.
Elements of storytelling are evident in Kenneth Grahame’s The Wind in the Willows. Because his story was originally used to entertain a child at bedtime, Grahame’s …show more content…
Toad’s actions are concerning to the other animals as a result of this. The animals are given a code which Mole follows religiously. The code is never given, as if the reader is supposed to know the code (if the reader belongs to the same class) or not allowed to know the code (if the reader belongs to a lower class). This animal code is why Toad’s eccentric actions are considered unacceptable. Toad’s actions are reckless and counter their values. Toad refuses to conform, threatening the status of the upper class. The idea of trying new things comes with the risk of things (such as the moral code) changing. Grahame’s fear of the class structure falling apart is apparent in his characters’ attempt to rescue Toad’s home. Grahame suggests that in order to survive, members of a class need to stay together. When Toad goes to jail, the wild wood animals run rampant in his home. It is not until Toad returns that the upper class can rally together and remove the Wild wood animals. If the upper class (Mole, Rat, Otter, Badger, Mole, and Toad) does not stay together completely, then the lower class will seep into their society and destroy everything they view