YMMV / The Wind in the Willows

• Accidental Aesop: The aristocracy will be destroyed by the proletariat if they do not retain the support of the bourgeoisie. Toad Hall, home of Idle Rich Mr Toad, is occupied by the weasels from the Wild Wood, and Toad is unable to do anything about it because there's only one of him, and he's generally useless. However, he is still somehow friends with Mole, Ratty and Badger, who are lower down the social ladder than him, but still above the weasels, and together they drive out the weasels and reclaim Toad Hall for Toad.
• Alternative Character Interpretation: A. A. Milne, who adapted the book for the stage as Toad of Toad Hall, believed that the main animals are faeries and so are able to do whatever they want.
• And You Thought It Would Fail: The manuscript was rejected by quite a few publishers. It's now considered one of the greatest works of English literature.
• Big-Lipped Alligator Moment: "The Piper at the Gates of Dawn" and "Wayfarers All". Both of them have no direct influence on the main plot — Mole and Ratty going hunting for the lost Portly and encounter Pan, and then Ratty gets a brief case of wanderlust. Hence why the are often Adapted Out.
• Ho Yay: Mole and Water Rat show shades of this. Living together is possibly the least intimate gesture that passes between them. Terry Pratchett commented that "the Mole and the Rat's domestic arrangements are probably acceptable, but only if they come out and talk frankly about them". The Alan Bennett stage version turns the whole scene of Mole's first meeting with Badger into a joke about Rat and Badger both competing to homoerotically hit on Mole, who is too innocent to notice.
• Values Dissonance: Though mostly timeless, there are a few aspects that prove this book was written at the beginning of the 20th century.
  • In an attempt to wean Toad off motor cars, Badger, Ratty and Mole lock him in his bedroom and stand guard over him. In 1908, this would have been considered a perfectly normal method. Over a century later, the trio would have been in serious trouble for vigilante imprisonment.
  • During Toad's trial at the Bench of Magistrates for theft, dangerous driving, and cheeking the police, the Clerk says that Toad's least grave offence is stealing the motor car and driving dangerously, while insulting the arresting officer deserves the most severe penalty. Nowadays, this comes off as Skewed Priorities; most people would cite dangerous driving as the worst one, given that it can seriously injure or even kill drivers and pedestrians alike. In 1908, automobiles were still in their infancy and were a luxury, meaning that roads were unimpeded and dangerous driving was less dangerous then than it is now (though still a really bad idea). In modern times, the working class can save enough money to afford cars, roads are much busier, and correspondingly there are many historical examples of injuries and deaths caused by reckless drivers.
  • The Weasels of the Wild Wood are lower-class and therefore bad, while the Riverbankers are middle- and upper-class and therefore good. Indeed, the final passage states how Toad, Mole, Badger, and Rat enjoy summer walks in the now "tamed" Wild Wood and are greeted with respectful deference by the inhabitants — in other words, the lower-classes know their place and wouldn't dare rebel against their "betters", ever again.

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