Wind in the Willows extract – Kenneth Grahame
The extract from Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame is a text which has ideas and themes relating to the concept of journey. A related text which also has ideas and themes relating to the concept of journey is The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain. Both of these texts are related not only because they both relate to journeys, but also because they both contain physical journeys. Although the reason for journey differs in both texts, they present similar ideas and impacts of journeys.
Although the reason for journey is different in both texts, the journey is presented as an escape in both. In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, the journey down the Mississippi river is forced upon Huck and Jim as an escape. For Huck this escape is from his father and civilisation, while for Jim it is an escape from slavery. In The Wind in the Willows, the physical journey is a choice. It is presented as an exciting opportunity to get away from a mundane life. Toad, one of the characters in Wind in the Willows says to another character, Rat, “You surely don’t mean to stick to your dull fusty old river all your life, and just live in a hole in a bank, and boat? I want to show you the world!” This is the use of the technique, direct speech. It creates a link between the reader and author, and it creates more meaning out of the words. Both of these texts relate because of this idea of an ‘escape’.
"‘You see – biscuits, potted lobster, sardines – everything you can possibly want. Soda-water here – baccy there – letter-paper, bacon, jam, cards and dominoes – you’ll find,’ he continued, as they descended the steps again, ‘you’ll find that nothing whatever has been forgotten, when we make our start this afternoon.’" This quotation is an example of the technique accumulation. Toad is listing everything he packed for the journey, and trying to convince Rat. This is related to journey because it is a