The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame is set in the Thames Valley in England where the author spent a part of his childhood. The plot of the novel revolves around the lives of four anthropomorphic characters – the Mole, Rat, Toad and Badger. It begins with a description of the Mole who is tired of spring cleaning his little home underground and ventures out of his hole into a meadow above. As he walks through the meadows and along the hedge rows he sees a river. Grahame tells the reader, “Never in his life had he seen a river before – this sleek, sinuous, full-bodied animal, chasing and chuckling, gripping things with a gurgle and leaving them with a laugh, to fling itself on fresh playmates that shook themselves free, and were caught and held again…”
As the Mole sits on the river bank he sees the Water Rat emerge from his hole underground and they become friends. The Rat invites the Mole to join him on a boat trip on the river. The Mole has never been in a boat before in all his life but accepts the invitation because the novelty of the situation kindles his curiosity.
The novel tells the story of the physical and psychological journey of four adventurous anthropomorphic animals as they experience a new life in the wilderness.
