Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Wind in the Willows, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Friendship and Mentorship
Manners, Conduct, and Consequences
Nature, Leisure, and the Modern World
Home, Identity, and Adventure
Greed, Arrogance, and Social Class
Summary
Analysis
Toad gives himself over to misery once he’s imprisoned in the dungeon. He believes this is the end of him: he’ll no longer be handsome, popular, rich, or free. Sobbing, he realizes he was horrible for committing his crimes, and he hopes that “wise” Badger, “intelligent” Rat, and “sensible” Mole don’t forget him. Toad spends weeks crying, wishing he’d listened to his friends. He refuses meals—until he realizes he can pay for luxuries to be ferried into the prison.
At first, prison seems to be doing its job. Toad is remorseful and acknowledges that his friends had the right idea—and that stealing a car was morally wrong. But Toad’s privilege keeps him from really internalizing these ideas, as he seems to perk up once he realizes that money can buy him some comfort. With this, the novel links Toad’s selfishness and unwillingness to change to the fact that he has a constant supply of cash and can essentially use his money to distract himself from his problems.
Themes
The gaoler has a lovely, kindhearted daughter who adores animals. She keeps several as pets, and one day, she asks to take over guarding Toad. At first, she enters his cell with warm food—but Toad kicks his legs and sobs, refusing the meal. She leaves him alone, and as Toad smells the food, he starts to think of poetry, meadows, Toad Hall, and his friends. He also thinks of how clever he is. These thoughts revive Toad so that when the gaoler’s daughter returns with buttered toast later, he munches his toast and happily tells her all about himself and Toad Hall. When the girl fetches more toast, Toad tells her about his friends. When she leaves for the night, Toad is back to his old self. He sings himself a few songs and sleeps well.
The gaoler’s daughter’s interest in Toad seems to bring about a transformation in him—she’s willing to listen to him, which no one else has been willing to do since he’s been imprisoned. Put simply, Toad needs an audience in order to be happy, whether that’s his friends at home or the gaoler’s daughter. He loves showing off and wants to impress people, and he doesn’t know how to function if he can’t do those things. This is all a part of his conceited nature, suggesting that Toad’s change of heart in the previous passage was only temporary.
Themes
Literary Devices
Over the next several weeks, the gaoler’s daughter starts to feel sorry for Toad. His offense seems trivial to her. For his part, Toad believes the girl is falling in love with him, and he wishes the “social gulf” between them wasn’t so wide. But he’s annoyed one morning when she doesn’t seem as interested in what he has to say. She begs him to listen and says her aunt is a washerwoman. Toad tells her not to feel bad about it—his aunts should be washerwomen too. She snaps at him and says that her aunt does the prisoners’ laundry. The aunt is quite poor, and Toad has claimed that he’s very rich. So, it seems like the aunt and Toad could come to agreement, and perhaps Toad could escape wearing the aunt’s clothes. The two have very similar figures.
Toad has no evidence that the gaoler’s daughter is falling in love with him—this seems to be a product of his imagination, and it reflects how self-important he is. His high opinion of himself made even more obvious when he brushes off the gaoler’s daughter’s attempt to help him escape prison. She’s trying to help Toad at great risk to herself (she could get in trouble for aiding his escape), but that’s of no concern to Toad—he just resents the implication that he could realistically pose as a washerwoman.
Themes
Toad scoffs that his figure is elegant, for a toad. The gaoler’s daughter tells Toad he’s being proud and ungrateful. After some arguing, Toad agrees that he’s being silly and asks to meet the aunt. So, the next evening, the girl shows her aunt into Toad’s cell, where Toad has gold coins laid out. The aunt insists that she be bound and gagged, so she can hopefully keep her position. This thrills Toad: it’ll prop up his reputation as a “desperate and dangerous fellow.” Once the aunt is tied up, the gaoler’s daughter helps Toad into the cotton dress—and laughs, since Toad looks just like her aunt.
Ultimately, the gaoler’s daughter is able to get Toad to see that he’s being rude and selfish. She tries to help him see that it’s elitist to refuse the help because being a washerwoman is something that Toad thinks is beneath him. This also points to Toad’s classism: the way he speaks about the gaoler’s daughter and her aunt makes it clear that he doesn’t think highly of working-class people, particularly women.
Themes
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It takes Toad several hours, but it turns out to be easy to get out of the prison. Guards help him and joke with him. Their humor is crude and clumsy, but Toad keeps his annoyance in check until he’s outside the prison. Once free, Toad hurries off. He knows he needs to get somewhere where his disguise won’t be recognized. Fortunately, he spots a railway station and discovers there’s a train going the right direction in 30 minutes. But at the ticket counter, when Toad reaches for his waistcoat pocket, there’s no pocket—and no money. Toad realizes his waistcoat with his money, keys, and other accoutrements are still in his cell. He’s no different now than the “inferior” people with no pockets.
Toad’s classism continues to shine through here when he’s so annoyed by the guards’ “clumsy” humor. The implication is that whatever they’re saying isn’t funny if one is wealthy and educated, as Toad is. But it bruising Toad’s ego to realize that for all intents and purposes, he’s just like the people he recently insulted, since he has no pockets and no money. For now, Toad is a working-class washerwoman for all intents and purposes, and he can’t rely on his money or reputation to help him.
Themes
The clerk just stares and laughs when Toad promises to send along his ticket money tomorrow. He asks the “madam” to stand aside, and another gentleman calls Toad “woman” as well, which makes Toad very angry. Toad wanders down the platform, crying, knowing this will all be over soon and he’ll be back in his cell. He wonders if he can squeeze under a seat, but just then, the engine driver asks Toad what’s the matter. Toad sobs that he’s a washerwoman and needs to get home to his kids, who are surely playing with matches. The engine driver proposes that if Toad washes a few of his shirts, he’ll take Toad in the engine. Toad happily climbs up, vowing to send a lot of money to the engine driver once he gets home.
Were it obvious that Toad is actually a wealthy gentleman, it’s possible that his promise to pay for his ticket tomorrow would work. But the clerk’s laughter suggests that he doesn’t trust working-class people to pay up—and since Toad is disguised as a washerwoman, he’s no different than the actual working-class people on the platform. Fortunately for Toad, there are people who feel sorry for him. But Toad is, of course, lying about having naughty kids at home, and it doesn’t seem to occur to him that this lie might be exposed and get him in deeper trouble.
Themes
The train pulls out of the station and soon, there are fields and trees on either side. Toad Hall, friends, and money seem to be getting closer every second. Toad knows his friends will love to hear his story of his grand escape when he gets home; they’ll praise him for being so clever. In his happiness, Toad starts to jump and sing. He stops immediately, though, when after some looking and listening, the engine driver says there’s another train behind them. Toad becomes depressed and barely acknowledges when the engine driver says the train is chasing them. The engine driver cries that there are odd people in the other train: old guards, policemen, and plainclothes detectives.
At first, things seem to be working out perfectly for Toad, which makes him feel clever and powerful. But Toad also doesn’t seem to realize that his friends won’t be pleased to hear his story, as they’ll likely take offense to his lying and cruel treatment of working-class people. For now, Toad doesn’t yet have to worry about that, since the train of police pursuing him is a more pressing concern. Clearly, Toad isn’t as clever as he thought he was, since his pursuers seem to know exactly who—and where—Toad is.
Themes
When the engine driver says the people on the other train are shouting for his train to stop, Toad falls to his knees. Toad confesses that he’s actually “the well-known and popular Mr. Toad” of Toad Hall, and he’s just escaped from a dungeon. Mr. Toad admits that he “borrowed” a car while its owners were eating, and magistrates don’t think highly of actions like that. The engine driver says that he really should give Toad up, especially since he hates cars. But he hates when policemen tell him what to do, and he hates seeing animals cry. He promises to help Toad.
Toad makes sure the engine driver realizes that he has a reputation as a “well-known,” “popular,” and wealthy gentleman. He also avoids saying that he actually stole the car (though the engine driver seems to understand that Toad did steal it). All of this shows that Toad isn’t willing to fess up to his crimes or be humble. He thinks his reputation should be enough to convince the engine driver to help him—and he’s just lucky it works this time.
Themes
For a while, Toad and the engine driver shovel more coals into the furnace, but it doesn’t do enough. The engine driver explains that there’s a tunnel ahead and woods on the other side. They’ll go fast through the tunnel—the other train will slow down—and on the other side, Toad will be able to jump out and hide. The plan works perfectly; from the bushes, Toad watches the police chase the engine-driver’s train. He laughs until he realizes it’s late and cold, and he has no money. The woods seem unfriendly, and animals jeer at Toad. Finally, Toad curls up in a hollow tree.
Toad likes to think of himself as clever and in charge—but in this situation, he doesn’t have to do anything but follow the engine driver’s instructions. He benefits from the engine driver doing the hard work—much like when Rat and Mole did all of the work on the caravan trip, or when the gaoler’s daughter facilitated his escape—and then takes credit for it. But Toad seems just as afraid of the woods now as Mole was when he ventured into the Wild Wood alone. That experience humbled Mole and transformed his behavior, so perhaps it will do the same for Toad.
Themes
