The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse

The mole is a dynamic character whose worldview changes as he comes to understand the value of friendship and love. His role in the book is often comic, usually based on his—forgivable—character flaws, especially his uncontrollable longing for cake. At the outset, the mole says he procured two different cakes for the boy, his friend, but he ate them both. The mole is often comically preoccupied by the idea of cake. For much of the story, he ranks cake as a very high priority, even higher than friendship. When the horse asks what keeps each of his friends going, the fox and the boy give rather emotional responses, but the mole’s answer is cake. However, he immediately amends his answer, claiming that hugs are even better than cake because they “last longer.” This demonstrates the mole’s character trajectory over the course of the novel. 

Even in the beginning, the mole is determined to live as fearlessly as possible, metaphorically paradoxical given the fact that moles live underground. He tells the boy that the old moles of his acquaintance recommend spending less energy on one’s fears and more on one’s dreams, and then he encourages the boy not to fear the wild into which they journey. The mole’s dedication to being brave is tested when he is faced with making a decision regarding the ensnared fox. He could leave the animal to die, or he could free it and risk his own death. The mole’s choice to react with compassion and courage instead of fear and suspicion demonstrates the freedom everyone has to choose our responses mindfully and purposely. Bravery is one of the mole’s defining qualities, along with devotion to his friends. He is unique in that he sometimes has trouble saying how much he loves them, admitting that he often says something else, perhaps something about how nice it is that they’re all together. Significantly, his friends do not try to force him to express his love in the mode that makes them most comfortable but allow him to express himself in his own way. In this way, the figure of the mole represents diversity and the acceptance of it in friendship.

The fox is also a dynamic character, one who begins the story as threatening and violent but eventually admits to feeling self-doubt. He first appears while walking at night underneath the branch on which the boy and the mole sit, but they do not notice him until the next day. They come upon him as he is trapped in a snare, and he stares down the mole, saying, “If I wasn’t caught in this snare I’d kill you” (20). However, after the mole chews through the wire, freeing the fox, the fox chooses not to fulfill his threat, demonstrating how we have The Freedom to Choose Our Reactions. The book suggests that the fox is not to blame for his nature but is able to control it if he wishes. The next time he appears beneath the branch, he walks in the shape of a heart so that his pawprints form the shape while the mole and the boy watch. The fox then retreats for some time, only resurfacing when the mole falls into a stream. He must be watching the boy and the mole, but he only makes his presence known when he emerges to save the mole who saved him. The fox is the most introverted of the characters, often on the edges of the group.

The fox stays with the pair, and they ponder all the “beauty [they] need to look after,” suggesting that they and their new friendship constitute the beauty they must protect (33). At one point, the mole says that oneself can be the hardest person to forgive, and in the illustration that follows, the boy and the mole sit on a branch facing the background while the fox sits next to them facing the reader. This placement, and the fox’s pensive expression, suggest that the fox may be sorry, perhaps regretting his initial treatment of the mole, especially when the mole and the boy show him such kindness and gratitude. There are no words accompanying this illustration, though in the next, the fox once again faces the same direction as his new friends, suggesting that he is allowing himself to feel their acceptance and love (40, 41). As the trio travels, the fox eventually reveals that he doesn’t usually speak because he “often feel[s] [he has] nothing interesting to say” (79). However, when the horse asks for the fox’s “reason to keep going,” the fox says, “You three” (60). Thus, like the boy, the fox seems used to loving others but, perhaps, not being loved in the same way in return. His experiences and words further demonstrate The Challenge of Seeing Our Own Worth. In this way, he is the character most like the boy; they both begin full of self-doubt but develop more confidence and self-assurance through their relationships with friends.