Bigwig (Watership Down)

Bigwig is a fictional rabbit from the 1972 novel "Watership Down" by Richard Adams. In the Lapine language, Bigwig's name is "Thlayli", which literally means "Fur-head", referring to his distinctive shock of fur on the crown of his head. He is one of the rabbits to leave the Sandleford warren with Hazel.

Bigwig is a large, strong rabbit. At Sandleford, he was a member of the Owsla. Though not the smartest of the rabbits to accompany Hazel, he is quicker than most to understand new ideas and concepts when he sees them in action. He is a stickler for rules and always obeys authority, unless he can see that that authority is misguided. He is fiercely loyal, and, in the end defends his new warren and his Chief Rabbit, Hazel, nearly to the death.

His physical strength and resilience are remarkable, as he survived not one, but two normally fatal situations. The first occurs when he is caught in a snare near Cowslip's warren, and the second being during the aforementioned defense of his new warren against the attacks of the much larger rabbit, General Woundwort. This almost supernatural strength is accompanied by a short temper, and an apparent lack of regard for any rabbits who show disrespect for legends, such as the stories of El-ahrairah, or for authority, such as when Speedwell, Acorn, and Hawkbit threaten Hazel's authority, early on in the journey from the Threarah's warren.

He is also adept at undercover work, as when he infiltrates Efrafa and, for a short time, becomes one of its Owsla officers in order to lure does to populate his own warren. At this time he also demonstrates empathy when he risks his own life to rescue the prisoner Blackavar. He forms a close friendship with Hyzenthlay, a wise Efrafan doe, who helps him devise his plan of escape. He also becomes a friend of the odd seagull, Kehaar, who, by virtue of their mutual respect, agrees to help them in their Efrafa heist.

Bigwig also seems to have a love of stories even more than the average rabbit, and could be said to be one of the more superstitious of the rabbits. He is the closest to Kehaar of all the rabbits, showing admiration for the bird's stories from the Big Water, and for his fighting spirit. In fact, Bigwig first gets the idea of fighting elil from Kehaar. He also shows the most irritation when the rabbits of Cowslip's warren seem to look down on the stories of El-ahrairah, and obviously takes rabbit hierarchies and values very seriously, being prepared to fight Woundwort, even to his own death, on Hazel's orders, and cursing Woundwort in Frith's name in the escape from Efrafa.

Though Hazel hesitated to bring him along at first, Bigwig proves to be an essential member of the party. Although initially repulsed by the idea of Hazel being Chief Rabbit of the band of rabbits who leave their original warren, Bigwig fully recognises him as such by the middle part of the book. Likewise, Bigwig scoffed at Fiver's visions, especially of the danger of Cowslip's warren. However, narrowly escaping one of the warren's many deadly hidden snares thanks in part to the seer, Bigwig realized Fiver's great wisdom and then accepts his future counsel without question. However, in "Tales from Watership Down" we discover that he is somewhat less comfortable with the idea of a doe (Hyzenthlay, now Hazel's mate) exercising joint authority in that role.

ee also

*Lapine
*Owsla
*Watership Down