How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #4
The hutch rabbits seemed at once bewildered and fascinated. Clover, the Angora doe—a strong, active rabbit—was clearly excited by Hazel's description and asked several questions about the warren and the downs. It became plain that they thought of their life in the hutch as dull but safe. They had learned a good deal about elil from some source or other and seemed sure that few wild rabbits survived for long. (24.36)
Like Cowslip's rabbits, the hutch rabbits have all their needs taken care of and they don't get eaten by humans. They're free from all the major worries that rabbits have. The only limit on their freedom is that they're in a tiny cage for their whole lives and are bored out of their minds. Hmm, that suddenly doesn't sound so free.
Quote #5
"The holes are all hidden and the Owsla have every rabbit in the place under orders. You can't call your life your own: and in return you have safety—if it's worth having at the price you pay." (27.25)
If we're giving out awards for least free rabbits, the award would have to go to the Efrafa rabbits. Holly reports that the rabbits there don't have to worry about predators or humans as long as they follow Woundwort absolutely. And how's this for irony? Holly here seems to think that freedom is good—when he was the policerabbit who came to arrest Hazel's rabbits before they left Sandleford. So now he's the one who's all pro-dissent. Three cheers for character growth.
Quote #6
"But surely it alters them very much, living like that?" asked Dandelion.
"Very much indeed," replied Holly. "Most of them can't do anything but what they're told. They've never been out of Efrafa and never smelled an enemy. The one aim of every rabbit in Efrafa is to get into the Owsla, because of the privileges: and the one aim of everyone in the Owsla is to get into the Council. The Council have the best of everything. But the Owsla have to keep very strong and tough." (27.29-30)
When we said that the Efrafans weren't free at all, we should've carved out a little exception for the Efrafan officers. As we'll learn when Bigwig infiltrates Efrafa, rabbits in the Owsla get all sorts of freedoms. (Like—yech—the freedom to mate with whatever female rabbit they choose. What is this, Braveheart?) Those officers have certain freedoms; while the rest of the rabbits have been so beaten down that they follow any order they're given just to survive.