Of all children’s stories, few provide insights as deep as those in The Wind in the Willows. Raised by his grandmother on a lovely, spacious property in England, Kenneth Grahame (1859 – 1932) revealed his ensuing love of nature in his later work, especially The Wind in the Willows (1908). Although written for his only child, the book contains a myriad of lessons appropriate for anyone, with unmistakable messages about friendship, home life, and goodwill—important aspects of childhood that are often diminished with age. Above all these themes, however, Grahame’s work glorifies the well-lived life by contrasting Mole, Rat, and Badger with wild, pitiable Toad.

Children love beauty, especially in nature. Walking through the woods, a child will pause to marvel at anything—a flower, a clump of moss, the bark of a tree, a woodpecker, a mushroom, a unique leaf. This profound awe and the resulting joy are necessary to human nature, which demands that man enjoy the world that God created for him. Astonishment at nature is one of Mole’s defining characteristics, as is evident in his first reaction to the river: “Mole was bewitched, entranced, fascinated. By the side of the river he trotted as one trots, when very small…and when tired at last, he sat on the bank, while the river still chattered on to him” (Grahame 7). Immersed in life on the river, Mole and Rat wonder at the beautiful and are happy. This quality of wonder, so often tragically lost with age, is nevertheless part of a truly human life.

Free time, which allows a person to awaken such awe in himself, is intimately entwined with a love of nature. When resting from his spring cleaning, Mole goes boating for the first time, and “[i]t was so very beautiful that the Mole could only hold up both forepaws and gasp, ‘O my! O my! O my!’” (Grahame 10). Only once freed from the dull, lightless underground can Mole enjoy the loveliness of the river. While Mole does not neglect his duties (like spring cleaning), he also does not allow work to crowd out recreation time, so essential to an appreciation of beauty. A balanced life requires recreation. In other words, a childlike wonder is not possible without the leisure time that The Wind in the Willows glorifies.
Cicero’s De Amicitia (“On Friendship”) proposes that joys are doubled when shared with loved ones. Doubtless this philosophy is true of leisure time: although all people need a fair amount of solitude, men are social creatures who can profit from one another’s company. True friendship should inspire virtue: in The Wind in the Willows, Toad eventually resigns his wild, lawless life because of his friendships with Mole, Rat, and Badger, for true friendship inspires virtue. Because friendship is love given without expectation of reciprocity, it fosters charity and allows men to help one another reach perfection. Moreover, friendship nurtures the love of beauty that Grahame’s work extols: Mole would not have found the beautiful river but for meeting Rat.

But where does appreciation of beauty come from? Grahame’s book portrays the home as the central place where love is protected and nurtured. Indeed, at home a child receives his earliest formation and forms his earliest impression of the Trinity, which is Love Itself mystically represented in the trio of father, mother, and child. The best homes encourage innocence, affection, simplicity—the virtues of childhood. In The Wind in the Willows, the animals gather in one another’s homes, taking honest pleasure in one another’s company. Of his own home, Mole admits, “I know it’s a—shabby, dingy little place…but it was my own little home—and I was fond of it” (Grahame 45). Later he leads Rat to his hole, wherein the two animals find a haven from the storm outside and comfort in a warm dinner. The homes throughout The Wind in the Willows are centers of deep affection, where friendship reaches its height.

In contrast, nothing ruins childlike virtue so quickly as sin, by definition the destruction of innocence. Toad exemplifies this wretched situation: in his uncontrollable desire for cars, he is enslaved to his own passion. Even when disguised among his enemies, Toad risks giving himself away for the sake of satisfying his addiction: “Toad…tried to beat down the tremors, the yearnings, the old cravings that rose up and beset him and took possession of him entirely. ‘It is fate!’ he said to himself. ‘Why strive? Why struggle?’” (Grahame 100). Essentially, Toad has lost the freedom to choose whether or not to drive cars; he can never resist. No longer can he choose to drive or not drive a car; he must always drive or else is miserable.

Separated from his home and his friends, Toad therefore lives an unhappy life, with no beauty and no love. His home, instead of providing peace and stability to his life, makes him restless and is eventually overrun by the stoats and weasels. When his friends attempt to break his addiction, Toad views them as mere obstacles to fulfilling his passion. Having lost both home and friends, as well as the childhood virtues of innocence and simplicity, Toad develops a new and unattractive character. He effeminizes, dressing as a washerwoman. He returns from his adventures ruined, a “shabby, bedraggled, disreputable-looking object” and yet boasts unrepentantly of his doings (Grahame 103). Until Toad regains true friendship and a peaceful home, his life remains devoid of beauty.
Throughout his children’s story, Grahame includes lessons that adults so need, lessons on the virtues that are so often lost with age. Awe of nature, enjoyment of leisure time, genuine friendship, and fondness of home life are so necessary to a beautiful life, yet often these qualities wither away with the spring of lifetime. Often, work and worry eventually crowd out family and friends, slowly destroying youthful joy. Perhaps this is why, as noted by Keith Berube, Grahame called children “the only really living people.”

Works Cited
Berube, Keith. “The Wind in the Willows.” Nov. – Dec. 2016.
Grahame, Kenneth. The Wind in the Willows. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2013.