The concern for the environment and the focus on leadership combine to form the central theme of the novel, which is the formation of community.

In the lapine world of Watership Down, community results when a group of individuals share a common purpose in life, realize that cooperation is essential to survival, and trust the complementary talents of others.

The plot allows these issues to be surveyed from a variety of perspectives. The story begins in the threatened warren, Sandleford. It is an ordinary society, pleasant but imperfect, neither an Eden nor a tyranny. Its doom comes from without, not within; only a half-dozen rabbits, sensing some ill-omen, flee the warren and survive its destruction. Now in a hostile environment, the band, led by Hazel, must rebuild community even as it moves.

To survive, the group pools its wisdom, and each individual takes responsibility for what...