s) about the group against which the prejudice is directed. This is exactly what the rabbits were. It’s a hostile attitude relying on stereotypes based on their membership in another group, any other animal besides rabbits, being the other group in our novel. This is the “barrier” or “belief” that was broken by Hazel. He strongly believed that if you gave the other animals a chance, they might be able to prove themselves not to be enemies. Not only that, but at the end, they might even be beneficial to the rabbits, which is actually the case here, as we will see later on.The first instance that Hazel shows his anti-segregation mentality occurs shortly after the rabbits find the Honeycomb. They were gathered underground when Silver quickly came down screaming “Hawk! Hawk!” After they were all safe underground they noticed a mouse had joined them. Quickly, Hazel came over to the mouse to see if it was ok. Contrary to the rest of the rabbits, he told the mouse it could stay underground until it was safe to go back up. Hazel was quick to notice that this mouse was of no threat to them, and didn’t see any reason not to help it. Just because it wasn’t another rabbit like them, didn’t mean that they had to automatically treat it like it was in a “lower class.” Since Hazel was able to understand this, and act on it, he was rewarded towards the end of the novel where the same mouse informed them that Woundwart was camped close to them and was going to attack them. This is the first example of how Hazel was not only physically a leader, but also a civil rights leader.The second example occurs when Bigwig and Silver were wandering around and they saw and heard something behind the bushes. When they discovered it was a huge white bird they both tried to get close to it. As they approached it, it began to go crazy so they ran away. Hazel met up with them and ask...
