Character Clues
Character Analysis
Names
Most books are filled with elaborate casts of characters with complicated names that have rich back-stories and meanings. The Velveteen Rabbit is a little bit different.
Okay, let us explain. This book just uses simple names. There's the Velveteen Rabbit. The Skin Horse. The Boy. Nana. The Doctor. See? Your name is what you are. Easy-peasy.
This actually works pretty well from a story told from the Velveteen Rabbit's point of view. Obviously, the Boy has a given name, but the Rabbit probably wouldn't know it. As far as this bunny is concerned, he's just the Boy. He's the kid who rules to nursery and decides which toys to cuddle with at night. Maybe one day he'll be the Man, but not quite yet.
The same thing with the other toys. The Skin Horse. The model boat. The china dog. No one gets fancy names. The Velveteen Rabbit just calls them what they are. They're just playthings so they don't have given names like people.
And Nana and the Doctor? That's probably what the Boy calls both of those grown-ups, so the Velveteen Rabbit follows suit. See? What did we tell you? This is one simple name game.
Physical Appearances
The Velveteen Rabbit might start out the story looking all fresh and beautiful, but that's not how he ends up. Of course, along the way, he learns an important lesson—sometimes it's love that makes you ugly.
All right, we really need to explain this one, don't we? When the Rabbit first appears in the nursery, he runs into all kinds of flashy toys who like to show off their bells and whistles:
Some of the more expensive toys quite snubbed him. The mechanical toys were very superior, and looked down upon every one else; they were full of modern ideas, and pretended they were real. (3)
The Rabbit starts to think that in order to be "real," you have to be a fancy wind-up toy or something. The Skin Horse—who also looks pretty beat-up himself—lets him know that's not true. In the end, the Rabbit find out that only toys that have been loved enough to have been played with and worn out can become Real.
That means the toys that are the least attractive are the ones who go on to become Real. The modern playthings that are all showy are the ones that will break down and get tossed in the garbage never to be heard from again. In other words, looks matter, but not in the way you might think.
Thoughts & Opinions
It seems like everyone's got an opinion—even toys. Around the nursery, the modern toys like to pretend they're "real" just because they can move with wind-up gears or joints. But the Skin Horse and the Velveteen Rabbit know there's more to being Real than just bells and whistles. Guess who turns out to be right in the end?
There's also a big difference between the thoughts and opinions of the kids and adults in the story. The grown-ups—like Nana and the Doctor—don't really seem to value the toys. They don't understand a thing about nursery magic and they mostly think playthings are just something kids leave lying around on the floor:
There was a person called Nana who ruled the nursery. Sometimes she took no notice of the playthings lying about, and sometimes, for no reason whatever, she went swooping about like a great wind and hustled them away in cupboards. She called this "tidying up," and the playthings all hated it, especially the tin ones. (14)
The Boy understands that his bunny is so much more than a toy. To him, the Velveteen Rabbit is a playmate and friend. The little guy is Real. Cue the nursery magic.