Rowf

Rowf is one of the two main protagonists alongside Snitter of Richard Adams`s 1977 book *The Plague Dogs*, and its 1982 animated film adaptation.

He is a black mongrel who was raised in a research facility and suffers from hydrophobia as a result of his experiments.

He and Snitter escape the lab and are forced to survive in the wilds with the help of a fox known as The Tod.

He was voiced by Christopher Benjamin.

## **Rowf`s Quotes:**

* *"How can anything be good in a place like this?"*
* *"We're not about to die!"*
* *"I don't understand a word he's saying."*
* *"The dark? What's the dark?"*
* *"Snitter! Can you hear me?"*
* *"This is no time for one of your turns!"*
* *"He'll cheat us and run away when it suits him.*
* *Bloody thief, that's what he is."*
* *"If you're still here when it's light, we'll decide what to do then."*
* *"What do you call yourself?*"
* *"How's going to end, running around these mountains?"*
* *"Maybe what they're doing to us is right."*
* *"I'm a good dog, Snitter!"*
* *"Let him go."*
* *"Good riddance."*
* *"I can't do it."*
* *"I'll...*
* *"I'll fight."*
* *"I'll tear their white coats! Damn white coats!"*
* *"There must be some reason, mustn't there? It must do some sort of good."*
* *"I was just wondering what it'd be like to have a master."*
* *"The kind that you talk about."*
* *"But, there's no one."*
* *"Only us."*
* *"The dark that Tod talks about, it's it's all around us."*
* *"I can feel it."*

## **Rowf`s Personality:**

Because of his water immersion experiments performed by the whitecoats and the fact that he was never raised by a kind-hearted master, Rowf became extremely pessimistic and possessed a cynical view of humanity as a result.

The drowning experiments he endured are also the result of him developing a crippling fear of water.

He acts realistic and believes that Snitter's hopes of finding a caring and kind master are futile.

Rowf's behaviour in the novel is significantly more wrathful and aggressive and he states that he hates all humans.

When he and Snitter met The Tod, Rowf was accurate to believe that the fox was an untrustworthy creature who takes advantage of them in order to get a meal, even driving him away for selfishly eating a nest of chicken eggs by himself.

However, after The Tod returned and saved him and Snitter from a hunter hired by the whitecoats to kill them, Rowf began to trust The Tod more and apologized for driving him away.

When he and Snitter were cornered on a shoreline by the military, Rowf reluctantly heads out to sea with Snitter to find the island and to avoid getting killed.

When Snitter began to lose hope, Rowf finally felt a sense of hope and urged Snitter to keep swimming on.

After they were rescued in the book, Rowf let go of his hatred of humans and went to live on a happy life with Snitter`s master.

## **Rowf`s Biography:**

### **At The Research Station:**

Rowf was raised in a scientific research facility, where he and Snitter are tortured for experimental purposes.

His drowning experiments by the whitecoats were the result of his cynical nature against humanity as well as his fear of water.

After another drowning experiment on Rowf, Snitter squeezes into his cage and they discover that his door is unlatched after the janitor named Harry Tyson forgot to properly secure his cage.

They explore the facility in order to escape until they sneak into an incinerator.

While Snitter starts to dream about his master, Snitter manages to find the exit.

Though Rowf initially refuses, they manage to escape the incinerator in time as Tyson ignites it, allowing the two dogs to roam the countryside of the Lake District.

### **Attempts At Survival:**

As they explore the town of Coniston, Snitter tries to introduce Rowf to the good life of having a master, to no avail.

Afterwards, the two dogs decide to become wild animals in order to survive and rely on a fox known as The Tod to hunt for food, while also evading the local farmers trying to kill them.

After Snitter accidentally kills a local businessman, Rowf searches for Snitter and finally manages to find him after two days, to which the latter blames himself for everything.

The two dogs later come across a shop and scavenge its dustbins.

The shopkeepers drive Rowf away and they capture Snitter.

Rowf comes back with assistance from The Tod and they both manage to free Snitter before the police and the whitecoats could catch him.

### **The Plague Rumours And Operation Gelert:**

One night, Rowf drives The Tod away after the latter greedily eats on a nest of chicken eggs by himself and decides to go into the nearby farm to get them a chicken, despite The Tod`s warnings not to go in there.

The two dogs are caught by the farmers and are nearly killed, but the farmers reluctantly decide to spare them and the two dogs flee before the farmers contact the authorities to report the incident.

Meanwhile, an opportunistic reporter named Digby Driver, Lynn Driver in the film publishes headlines about the dogs supposedly carrying bubonic plague after blackmailing one of the whitecoats at the testing facility, causing mass hysteria among the public.

During a snowstorm, the dogs begin to starve and they raid a bank clerk's groceries.

As the dogs wander aimlessly across the Lake District, they are pursued by the bank clerk a hunter hired by the whitecoats in the film.

The Tod comes back and manages to save the two dogs as the hunter tries to shoot Rowf, but only succeeds in shooting off his collar.

The two dogs scavenge the hunter`s corpse and his mutilated body is later found, which leads the Secretary of State to deploy a battalion of the Parachute Regiment to hunt down the dogs.

As the two dogs and The Tod wander across the countryside to find the sea, they realize that they are being hunted down.

The Tod distracts the military dogs long enough for the pair to sneak onto a train to Ravenglass, but gets killed in the process.

When the two dogs arrive at Ravenglass, a helicopter spots them and a chase is ensued throughout the town until they are cornered at a beach.

As the army closes in on them, Rowf declares that he won`t let them take him back to the research station and Snitter claims to see an island across the sea.

Snitter heads out to sea and Rowf is hesitant to follow, but he gathers the courage to swim in order to escape the army as the soldiers shoot at them.

The two dogs are engulfed in a fog and Snitter begins to tire.

Rowf urges Snitter to keep swimming and the latter states that there isn`t any island, but Rowf claims to see the island and encourages Snitter to follow him as they continue swimming and disappear into the mist.

### **Rowf`s Fate:**

In the book, they were eventually rescued by two naturalists named Peter Scott and Ronald Lockley and Rowf finally let go of his grudge against humanity and began to trust them after being rescued from drowning.

When they got back to land, they were finally reunited with Snitter`s long lost owner.

When the Secretary of State and his senior civil servant arrive to have the dogs shot, Digby Driver, who had redeemed himself and helped Mr Wood find the two dogs, threatened to give them a bad reputation and they flee as Rowf chases after them.

Mr Wood and the two dogs then head for home as Digby Driver and Major Rose help them on the way.

In the film, it is implied that the pair drowned and found peace in death as their suffering finally ended.

This scenario was the original ending of the book until the readers requested the author to alter his ending.

An island is shown, possibly as a metaphor for the afterlife.

## **Gallery:**

Rowf swimming and then almost drowning.Rowf swimming and then almost drowning.Rowf and Snitter talk about that Rowf thinks that he and Snitter should change into wild animals.Rowf protects Snitter from the humans.Rowf and Snitter escape from the animal research by climbing out of the incinerator.Rowf and Snitter nearly get shot by the farmers after they kill a chicken.