On first reading, Piper at the Gates of Dawn did not seem part of an arc or connected to the wider plot. Grahame at this time associated with Pantheism though later returned to Christianity. The chapter points the reader who may be the adult reading to a child, to reminders of the importance of connecting with the environment and the reunion with the lost ‘child’ in the form of the otter suggests the author directed his readers to connect with lost joys of childhood. Arguably, the chapter is the crux of the novel. Grahame is directing his reader, to a spiritual journey through connection with the pastoral, through learning, and self-revelation.

Toad’s fascination with new, avarice and consumerism, and his character willing to manipulate with little regard for consequence draws direct parallels with shifts in Edwardian society. The motor car searing through the landscape is symbolic of this disruption. Grahame’s values are ultimately conservative.

In The Pagan Papers, written by Grahame and published in 1898, we see the first seeds of ideas for The Wind in the Willows. The first chapter, named ‘The Romance of the Road’. The author discusses a celebration of journey, nature, travelling and reading and in his April Essay, ‘The Rural Pan,’ equating Pan to quiet moments of introspection when immersed in nature. ‘The Wind in the Willows’ was written towards the end of the Edwardian era when Pan and Pantheism were commonly and overtly associated with writing for children. The anthropomorphic animals are only thinly veiled humans on a journey, exploring friendship, class, aspiration, and spirituality. Readers may wonder if the crux of the book was ‘The Piper at the Gates of Dawn’, rather it being an authorial distraction, or tangent. One m