*** THE STORY SETTING JUXTAPOSITIONS IN THE WIND IN THE WILLOWS ***

 

Grahame chooses a variety of contrasting settings. Clever juxtapositions abound! The open countryside versus cozy homes, the grandeur of Toad Hall versus the grim jail cell (spelled as gaol in older English) and the carefree river bank versus the scary Wild Wood! Indeed we begin our analysis with Mole comparing life below ground to life above ground, from feeling buried to feeling free - as perhaps a beleaguered banker-poet might imagine a retired lifestyle. Perhaps the author yearned to free himself from the ‘whitewashing’ of banker ‘morality’ and return to the glory of his childhood spent at liberty in nature! 

 

So, let’s take a look at settings and mood words.

 

1. Life below ground to life above ground:

 

[Below, negative mood words clustered] “… penetrating even his dark and lowly little house with its spirit of divine discontent and longing. …the steep little tunnel… …scraped and scratched and scrabbled and scrooged and then he scrooged again and scrabbled and scratched and scraped, working busily with his little paws and muttering to himself…” 

 

[Above, positive mood words clustered] “…Pop! his snout came out into the sunlight, and he found himself rolling in the warm grass of a great meadow.

 

“…The sunshine struck hot on his fur, soft breezes caressed …the carol of happy birds … joy of living and the delight of spring …”

 

(All From, Chapter One)

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 2. Open air country versus cozy homes:

 

[GRAHAME’S STATEMENT OF COMPARISON] “But it was from one little window, with its blind drawn down, a mere blank transparency on the night, that the sense of home and the little curtained world within walls—the larger stressful world of outside Nature shut out and forgotten—most pulsated.”

 

[HOMEWARD, after the Wild Wood, negative mood words are clustered.] “The rapid nightfall of mid-December had quite beset the little village as they approached it on soft feet over a first thin fall of powdery snow. Little was visible but squares of a dusky orange-red… the firelight …through the casements into the dark world without.”

 

[COSY HOME, on returning to Mole End, positive mood words are clustered.]: “What a capital little house this is!” he called out cheerily. “So compact! So well planned! Everything here and everything in its place! We’ll make a jolly night of it. The first thing we want is a good fire… So this is the parlour? Splendid! …little sleeping-bunks in the wall? Capital! Now, I’ll fetch the wood and the coals…”

 

(All From Chapter Five)

3. The grandeur of Toad Hall versus the gaol (jail) cell:

 

[GAOL CELL, negative mood words clustered]: 

When Toad found himself immured in a dank and noisome dungeon, and knew that all the grim darkness of a medieval fortress lay between him and the outer world of sunshine and well-metalled high roads… he flung himself at full length on the floor, and shed bitter tears, and abandoned himself to dark despair.

 

(From Chapter Eight)

 

[TOAD HALL, positive mood words clustered]

“Toad Hall,” said the Toad proudly, “is an eligible self-contained gentleman’s residence very unique; dating in part from the fourteenth century, but replete with every modern convenience. Up-to-date sanitation. Five minutes from church, post-office, and golf-links, Suitable for——” 

 

(From Chapter Eight)

 

[TOAD HALL, positive mood words clustered]

“…they came in sight of a handsome, dignified old house of mellowed red brick, with well-kept lawns reaching down to the water’s edge.  

 

(From Chapter Two)

4. The River versus the Wild Wood:

 

[RIVER, positive words clustered]

 

“… a full-fed river.. sleek, sinuous, full-bodied animal, chasing and chuckling, gripping things with a gurgle and leaving them with a laugh, to fling itself on fresh playmates that shook themselves free… a-shake and a-shiver—glints and gleams and sparkles, rustle and swirl, chatter and bubble. The Mole was bewitched, entranced, fascinated.”

 

(From Chapter One)

 

[WILD WOOD, negative words clustered, fear of the the unknown is emphasised]

 

“The pattering increased till it sounded like sudden hail on the dry leaf-carpet spread around him. The whole wood seemed running now, running hard, hunting, chasing, closing in round something or—somebody? In panic, he began to run too, aimlessly, he knew not whither. He ran up against things, he fell over things and into things, he darted under things and dodged round things. At last he took refuge in the deep dark hollow of an old beech tree…”

 

(From Chapter Three)

 

 

Learning Exercises

 

1. Choose a series of settings for your previously made characters. 

 

Think about the contrasts that Grahame uses: from underground homes to the open countryside, from Toad Hall with exquisite food and furniture to a dank gaol cell without any furniture, existing on rations of ‘bubble and squeak.’ Think of the calmness of River Bank compared to the frightening Wild Woods. What mood belongs to each setting? How can you bring that mood to life with careful word choices? How can you alter the pace of the sentences to suit the mood?  How will you show your characters emotions via their actions and speech?

 

2. Place your character(s) in two contrasting settings, one in comfort and the other more challenging. 

 

Write a first draft of a scene.  You may use it as part of a story later on, or not. It may simply be practicing describing your new character within their environment. Don’t worry about plot, simply absorb yourself in writing a paragraph or three. Also, there is no need to use all of your characters, you can choose one or two to make your creative process easier.

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