“The rabbits came many grandparents ago.”
— Opening line describing the arrival of the rabbits.
Archivist's Choice
The Rabbits
John Marsden (2003)
Genre
Fantasy / Children's / Historical Fiction / Creativity / Young Adult
Reading Time
10 min
Key Themes
See below
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In a land of old gum trees and marsupials, the arrival of rabbits with their machines and fences changes a natural place into a desolate, unfamiliar world.
Synopsis
A young native bilby tells about the Rabbits arriving in large ships. The bilbies are first curious and careful, watching the Rabbits' strange ways and tools. The Rabbits quickly grow in number and spread, using up resources and building fences, which upsets the land's natural balance. They bring new technologies, machines, and buildings, overwhelming the bilbies' traditional life. The bilbies lose their homes, and their culture and memories fade as the Rabbits expand and use their technology. The land itself suffers much environmental damage, becoming scarred and empty. The bilby and other native animals think about the changes and what they have lost. It is a story about invasion, colonization, and environmental destruction.
Reading time
10 min
Difficulty
Easy
Pacing
Moderate
Mood
Thought-provoking, Melancholy, Allegorical, Reflective
✓ Read this if...
You are looking for a powerful and accessible allegory about colonization, environmental impact, and the loss of indigenous cultures, suitable for both children and adults.
✗ Skip this if...
You prefer light-hearted stories without allegorical or somber themes.
Plot Summary
The Arrival of the Rabbits
The story begins with native creatures, like marsupials, living peacefully in their natural land. Their life is simple and in harmony with nature. One day, they see strange vessels on the horizon, carrying a new species: the Rabbits. These Rabbits are few at first and seem curious, watching the land and its animals from afar. The native creatures watch with a mix of wonder and worry as these newcomers start to settle on their shores. This is the first big change to their long-standing way of life.
Initial Interactions and Misunderstandings
At first, the native creatures try to understand the Rabbits. They watch their strange customs and tools, noticing their different ways of moving and interacting with the environment. The Rabbits bring unfamiliar objects and start to change the land subtly. The natives feel uneasy because the Rabbits' actions do not seem to respect the existing balance. Attempts to communicate or understand each other do not work. The Rabbits seem focused on their own plans, not on fitting in with the land's culture and environment. The natives' initial curiosity slowly turns into confusion and alarm.
Expansion and Resource Depletion
As time passes, the Rabbits' numbers grow quickly. They expand their settlements, building fences and structures that divide the land. They use resources greedily, cutting down trees, digging up the earth, and polluting the water. The native creatures watch helplessly as their familiar landscape changes. The food they once had in plenty decreases, and natural homes are destroyed. The Rabbits' growth is constant and uncontrolled. They do not care about the environmental impact of their actions, leaving the native inhabitants confused and increasingly without their ancestral lands.
Technological Domination
The Rabbits bring more advanced technology, like machines that move earth and weapons that make loud noises and cause damage. These tools give them a clear advantage and make their control over the land and its original inhabitants stronger. The native creatures, with their simple tools and traditional ways, cannot compete or resist the Rabbits' technology. The size and power of the Rabbits' machines are overwhelming. This shows how fast and damaging industrialization can be, pushing aside the natural world and its traditional protectors. This leaves the natives feeling powerless and exposed.
Cultural Erasure and Displacement
With their land taken and resources gone, the native creatures are pushed to the edges. Their traditional gathering places are destroyed, their sacred sites ignored, and their way of life becomes impossible to continue. They become observers in their own land, watching as the Rabbits bring their own culture, language, and systems. The once connected native communities are broken apart and isolated. Their songs and stories fade. The displacement is not just physical but also cultural and spiritual. This leads to a deep feeling of loss and separation among the original inhabitants, as they try to keep their identity amid the overwhelming changes.
Environmental Devastation
The Rabbits' presence causes terrible environmental damage. Green forests become stumps, rivers are polluted, and the air fills with smoke and noise. The delicate balance of nature is completely broken, leading to widespread emptiness. The bright colors of nature are replaced by the grey and brown of industry and barrenness. The native creatures see their home destroyed forever. A land that once gave them everything they needed now lies scarred and used. This shows the deep and lasting harm done to the environment by uncontrolled growth and resource use.
The Weight of Memory
In the end, the native creatures have little left but fading memories of what their land once was. They remember when the rivers were clear, the trees were tall, and the animals thrived. The difference between their past and the empty present is sharp and painful. They look at a land changed forever by the Rabbits' constant transformation. The story ends with a deep sense of loss and an unanswered question about the future. It makes the reader think about the results of such widespread destruction and the lasting effect on those who lost everything.
Principal Figures
The Native Creatures
The Protagonist
They move from a state of peaceful existence to one of displacement, loss, and memory, serving as a witness to the destruction.
The Rabbits
The Antagonist
They arrive, expand, dominate, and ultimately transform the land into a reflection of their own industrial society.
Themes & Insights
Colonialism and Invasion
The book's main theme is the story of European colonization of Australia. The Rabbits arriving by sea, their fast growth, new culture and technology, and pushing out the native creatures directly reflect the British invasion of Australia. The story shows how one-sided this process was, where the colonizers did what they wanted without understanding or respecting the existing inhabitants and their connection to the land.
“We didn't know where they came from. We didn't know what they wanted.”
Environmental Destruction
The book clearly shows the damaging effect of human activity on nature. The Rabbits' actions—cutting trees, polluting rivers, digging up land, and building fences—show the wide environmental harm caused by uncontrolled industry and using too many resources. The change from a green, alive landscape to an empty, scarred one warns about people not caring for environmental sustainability and the lasting results of such actions.
“They ate our grass. They ate our trees. They brought their own food. They brought their own animals. And they brought their own diseases.”
Loss of Indigenous Culture and Identity
The story captures the deep loss Indigenous peoples felt because of colonization. The native creatures are pushed aside, their traditional life broken, and their link to their ancestral land cut. The book shows how culture is erased when a strong power forces its systems and values, leaving the original inhabitants with only memories and a feeling of being separated from their own heritage. Their songs and stories are replaced by the Rabbits' noise and buildings.
“They made roads. They made houses. They made fences. And we were no longer in our own country.”
The Power of Memory and History
Despite much destruction and displacement, the native creatures remember the past. These memories remind them strongly of what was lost and help them resist being completely forgotten. The book suggests that remembering history, even painful history, helps understand the present and think about the future. The last pages, talking about 'whispers of the past,' show that historical events have a lasting effect and must be acknowledged.
“Who are these rabbits? We asked. And where did they come from? We asked.”
Plot Devices & Literary Techniques
Allegory
The entire narrative functions as a symbolic representation of Australian colonization.
The entire book is an allegory. The 'Rabbits' represent European colonizers, particularly the British, and the 'native creatures' represent Indigenous Australians. The events in the story—arrival by sea, rapid expansion, resource exploitation, technological dominance, and displacement—symbolically parallel the historical events of the colonization of Australia. This device allows complex historical and social issues to be presented in a simplified, yet powerful and emotionally resonant way, particularly for younger audiences, making the injustice clear without being overly explicit.
Anthropomorphism
Animals are used to represent human groups and their actions.
Marsupial-like creatures and rabbits are used to represent human populations, specifically Indigenous Australians and European colonizers, respectively. This anthropomorphism helps to create a sense of distance and universality, allowing readers to engage with the difficult subject matter without immediate preconceptions tied to specific human races. It also emphasizes the 'animalistic' or instinctual drives behind colonization (e.g., rapid reproduction, territorial expansion, resource consumption) and the vulnerability of indigenous species.
Juxtaposition of Imagery
Contrasting visuals highlight the change from pristine nature to industrial desolation.
The book masterfully uses contrasting imagery to emphasize the devastating impact of the Rabbits. Early illustrations depict lush, vibrant landscapes with clear waters and abundant life, reflecting the harmonious existence of the native creatures. This is starkly juxtaposed with later images of barren land, smoke-filled skies, polluted rivers, and geometric industrial structures. This visual contrast powerfully conveys the theme of environmental destruction and the loss of natural beauty due to human intervention, reinforcing the narrative's emotional impact.
Repetitive Language and Rhetorical Questions
Simple, repetitive phrases build tension and emphasize the native creatures' confusion and despair.
The text employs simple, repetitive sentence structures, particularly questions like 'Who are these rabbits? We asked. And where did they come from? We asked.' and 'Where would it end? We asked.' This repetition creates a rhythmic, almost chant-like quality, echoing oral storytelling traditions. It also effectively conveys the native creatures' growing confusion, fear, and helplessness as they try to comprehend the incomprehensible actions of the Rabbits. The rhetorical questions serve to engage the reader and prompt reflection on the unanswered historical injustices.
Critical analysis
Notable Quotes
“They didn't live in trees like we did.”
— Narrator contrasting rabbit and native animal habitats.
“They ate our grass. They chopped down our trees and scared away our friends.”
— Describing the environmental impact of the rabbits.
“They brought new animals that ate the grass and scared away our friends.”
— Highlighting the disruption to the ecosystem.
“They didn't ask questions. They didn't speak our language.”
— Emphasizing the lack of communication and understanding.
“They brought other animals with them, animals that trampled our crops.”
— Describing further agricultural damage.
“They made their own houses, very tall houses, and they made roads and bridges and tunnels.”
— Illustrating the rabbits' rapid construction and urbanization.
“They didn't think like we did. They didn't feel like we did.”
— Reflecting on cultural and emotional differences.
“They took the children away.”
— A poignant line about the forced removal of native children.
“They didn't understand us, and we didn't understand them.”
— Summarizing the mutual lack of comprehension.
“They brought new food, and we ate it.”
— Showing adaptation and unintended consequences.
“They brought new diseases, and we died.”
— Addressing the devastating health impacts.
“We lost the fights. We lost the land. We lost the children.”
— A somber summary of losses endured.
“They made a new country, but it wasn't ours.”
— Final reflection on displacement and change.
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Key Questions (FAQ)
'The Rabbits' is an allegorical picture book that uses the arrival of rabbits in a new land to represent the colonization of Australia by Europeans. It follows the native animals (representing Indigenous Australians) as they witness the rabbits' destructive spread, which brings new technologies, diseases, and environmental devastation, ultimately overwhelming their way of life.
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Biography coming soon.
