The Wind in the Willows

Adventure-loving, friendly, eccentric, easily distracted, and rather full of himself, Mr. Toad lives the most exciting life of the main characters, and much of the story’s action centers on his exploits. Toad vastly overestimates his skills and abilities, and this gets him into endless trouble. He boasts, writes songs about how wonderful he is, wastes money, and proves himself the very model of an arrogant son of wealth. His friends can no more deter him from his folly than can anyone against the foolish antics of a spoiled rich kid.

Toad is both the most interesting and most difficult of the story’s four main protagonists. Unable to resist any opportunity to show off, especially with boats, caravans, and cars, Toad constantly gets into tight fixes. Cars entice his worst behavior, and his theft of one lands him in jail. When he drives, he’s on top of the world and feels tremendously proud; when disaster inevitably strikes, he’s plunged into self-loathing misery. These rapid mood swings make Toad highly unstable.

The book recounts two main subplots involving Toad: his adventures with cars and the struggle to retake