Original artwork, not a still
The Velveteen Rabbit · 1922
The Rabbit could not claim to be a model of anything, for he didn't know that real rabbits existed; he thought they were all stuffed with sawdust like himself, and he understood that sawdust was quite out-of-date and should never be mentioned in modern circles.
Behind the line
What it means
Our interpretation.
The rabbit understands other rabbits through what he knows of himself, assuming that they too contain sawdust. His limited knowledge meets a second judgment: that he is out of date. The passage combines an innocent mistake about living creatures with the more social anxiety of being considered old-fashioned.
Context reviewed
