The Velveteen Rabbit Passivity Quotes

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Quote #7

And so the little Rabbit was put into a sack with the old picture-books and a lot of rubbish, and carried out to the end of the garden behind the fowl-house. That was a fine place to make a bonfire, only the gardener was too busy just then to attend to it. He had the potatoes to dig and the green peas to gather, but next morning he promised to come quite early and burn the whole lot. (61)

And here he is. The Rabbit winds up in a garbage bag just waiting to get tossed on the bonfire tomorrow. Sure, he can wiggle around a little, but there's really no escaping. He may be Real, but he's still just a stuffed animal and that means he's stuck here.

Quote #8

And he found that he actually had hind legs! Instead of dingy velveteen he had brown fur, soft and shiny, his ears twitched by themselves, and his whiskers were so long that they brushed the grass. He gave one leap and the joy of using those hind legs was so great that he went springing about the turf on them, jumping sideways and whirling round as the others did, and he grew so excited that when at last he did stop to look for the Fairy she had gone.

He was a Real Rabbit at last, at home with the other rabbits. (77-78)

Okay, so the Rabbit who spent this whole story being totally powerless and unable to even move without the help of other finally gets his legs. This little guy can hop and jump and play with the wild rabbits. Sure, he was Real before, but now he's not passive anymore. He can make his own choices. Isn't that what being Real is all about?