SOURCE: "At the Back of The Wind in the Willows: An Experiment in Biographical and Autobiographical Interpretation," in Victorian Studies, Vol. 24, No. 3, Spring, 1981, pp. 303-23.

In the following essay, Steig examines what he perceives as a veiled eroticism in The Wind in the Willows, using his own childhood reading of the book as a springboard for his discussion.

One does not argue about The Wind in the Willows. The young man gives it to the girl with whom he is in love, and if she does not like it, asks her to return his letters. The older man tries it on his nephew, and alters his will accordingly. The book is a test of character. We can't criticize it, because it is criticizing us. As I wrote once: it is a Household Book; a book which everybody in the household loves, and quotes continually; a book which is...