Mole On Escapism

In Chapter Four of Wind in the Willows, Mole admires Badger’s underground home:

. . . he took the opportunity to tell Badger how comfortable and home-like it all felt to him. ‘Once well underground,’ he said, ‘you know exactly where you are. Nothing can happen to you, and nothing can get at you. You’re entirely your own master, and you don’t have to consult anybody or mind what they say. Things go on all the same overhead, and you let ‘em, and don’t bother about ‘em. When you want to, up you go, and there the things are, waiting for you.’

This passage can work pretty well as a description of escapism. Escaping into a novel or movie is just like spending time comfortably underground.

In other news, I’m pretty convinced that the main theme of this book is the idea of home. I’m not even done Chapter Five yet, and so far, several homes have been mentioned or discussed:

• Mole’s home, which is named Mole End. I love that name.
• Rat’s home in the riverbank. Sometimes it floods, and Rat has to move out for a while.
• Toad Hall.
• Toad’s canary-yellow gypsy caravan.
• Badger’s impressive underground home.