The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse

As the book draws to a close, the characters’ actions emphasize that The Freedom to Choose Our Reactions is a significant and life-changing personal agency. When the mole asks the boy about the proverbial glass and whether the boy sees it as half empty or half full, the boy chooses a completely different response, saying, “I think I’m grateful to have a glass” (87). Again, Mackesy creates meaning through a subversion of expectations: Instead of focusing on how much of something he has, the boy reframes the accepted meaning, instead expressing gratitude that he has anything at all. This theme is rounded off further when, after the boy becomes frustrated on the journey, the horse encourages him to “look how far we’ve come” (98-99). The horse doesn’t get frustrated, and he doesn’t lecture the boy about being negative or glum; instead, he chooses to respond with compassion and encouragement. The horse shows the boy how to reinterpret his reality so that he can control his reaction to it, a didactic episode for the reader. Likewise, the final page of the book features the words “The end” crossed out, and written underneath, “look how far we’ve come,” suggesting that the reader, too, can reinterpret traditional meanings and structures (115). This ending highlights the connection between the narrative, characters, and the reader, rather than on “the end,” engaging the reader past the literal conclusion of the story.

This section also rounds off the theme of The Challenge of Seeing Our Own Worth. The horse warns the boy, “Don’t measure how valuable you are by the way you are treated” (108). An example of the story’s patterning, this recalls the mole procuring two different cakes for the boy but eating them both at the story’s beginning. Rather than interpret the mole’s behavior as indicative of a low opinion of the boy, he correctly sees that the mole simply loves cake; the boy doesn’t assign himself value based on the mole’s choices. Likewise, the mole explains that he often finds it difficult to say, “I love you all,” so he says “something like I’m glad we are all here” instead (101). His friends don’t interpret his inability or unwillingness to explicitly express his love as indicative of their unlovability, and the mole’s explanation proves that his behavior is not a reflection of his love for them or their inherent worth. Like the quiet fox, the mole’s choices do not reflect the value of his friends but his own personal struggles, proving the wisdom of the horse’s words.

These final pages continue to reinforce The Value of Friendship. The horse insists that it’s no problem that the group doesn’t know what tomorrow holds; all they “need to know is that [they] love each other” (89). The appearance of dark storm clouds confirms the future’s unpredictability, and when the friends “keep going” at the horse’s urging, he encourages them to focus on what they love right in front of them. All the pictures of the storm are in black and white, often heavily shaded, but the picture immediately following the storm is in full color; it depicts the four friends, small against a landscape flooded with blues and golds (97). In its saturated and vibrant colors, this picture symbolizes the value of friendship in helping us weather the figurative storms of life. Likewise, when the mole asks the boy what his “best discovery” is, the boy replies, “That I’m enough as I am” (103). Though he struggled to see his own worth before, in giving and receiving his friends’ love and support, the boy learns to. The book’s final full-color illustration depicts a dark blue sky, streaked with light, and the four friends sitting together under it (111). Someone—likely the boy, though it is not explicit—says aloud, “Home isn’t always a place is it?” suggesting that “home” is actually the feeling of connection one feels with friends (111). The deep hues suggest a sense of fullness, completion, and the overwhelming blue shades, even on the white horse and the boy’s clothes, convey calm and tranquility, as though this realization finally gives the boy the peace he’s sought. This would not have been possible without the support of his friends, and the boy’s realization that their emotional connection is his “home” communicates The Value of Friendship.