35 pages • 1 hour read
Charlie MackesyThe Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse
Fiction | Graphic Novel/Book | Middle Grade | Published in 2019A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Summary
Background
Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Character Analysis
Themes
Symbols & Motifs
Important Quotes
Essay Topics
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BetaThemes
The Freedom to Choose Our Reactions
Consistently through the book, each character’s words and actions illustrate the freedom each of us has to choose our responses to life’s disappointments, surprises, and challenges. It is the mole, however, who explicitly names this theme, after he sets the fox free from the snare, even though the fox threatened to kill him. This incident and the mole’s subsequent claim draw the reader’s attention to the freedom of choice to react thoughtfully and intentionally, rather than just to act or do as we want. The mole chooses to react not out of fear of the fox but out of kindness and selflessness. This sets an example and, for the remainder of the book, his friends follow suit.
This includes the fox, who reconsiders his “natural” impulse to kill the mole. In the illustration that follows the mole’s claim, the mole and the boy sit in a tree, and the fox walks beneath them, his pawprints forming a heart in the snow (24-25). Thus, the fox realizes his freedom to choose his reaction to the mole’s fearless kindness, and he chooses to respond in kind, with love. Moreover, when the mole falls into the river the next day, the fox saves him, and this interaction begins the friendship he forms with the boy and the mole.
Similarly, the horse chooses his response to the rainclouds, opting for a purposeful calm and perseverance rather than fear. He says that, when things feel out of control, they should “focus on what [they] love right under [their] nose[s],” and the friends stay together to wait out the symbolic storm (93). The horse doesn’t panic or worry but chooses to provide support for his friends instead, and this helps them all through a tough time. Likewise, the boy lovingly chooses his response to the mole’s admission that saying he loves his friends can be difficult for him. Rather than try to persuade the mole differently, the boy simply accepts and responds to the mole in kind so as not to embarrass him, saying, “We are so glad you are here too” (101). Time and again, the characters mindfully choose their responses, patterning this theme throughout the novel and creating didactic applied examples of this concept for the reader.
The Challenge of Seeing Our Own Worth
This theme provides much of the story’s narrative arc and emotional trajectory, especially as it traces the dynamism of the protagonist’s character. At various moments in the story, almost every character seems to require reassurance of their own self-worth and value. While every character easily sees the inherent significance of each of his friends, their difficulty in recognizing their own demonstrates how challenging this can be.
As if to show how significant this message is, the very first interaction represented in the book—between the boy and the mole—consists of the mole lamenting his small size and the boy reassuring him that, despite this, the mole “make[s] a huge difference” (3). Further, the belief that others are perfect adds to the challenge of seeing ourselves clearly. Thus, the mole describes “comparing yourself to others” as the “biggest waste of time” (12). The book suggests that hidden vulnerabilities may give the appearance of perfection too, and this is why the mole calls perfection “The greatest illusion” (69). This theme asserts that no one is perfect, despite how they might appear to others, so, as the horse says, people must “dar[e] to show [our] weakness” (56). The story equates this to courage because it is difficult to reveal one’s weakness when everyone else seems strong: The compensation for this, however, is the ability to form real and honest connections with others and learn that they share our anxiety. As the characters are shown commiserating about feelings and experiences, each comes to understand that they are just as valuable and worthy of love as those they value and love. Again, this provides a model for the philosophical approach to life that the book promotes.
The boy, in particular, struggles with the challenge of seeing his own worth, something his friends help him learn to do. Near the end of the text, when the mole asks him what his “best discovery” is, the boy replies, “That I’m enough as I am” (103). He has expressed fears that he is “ordinary” or that he is less worthy of his friends’ love once they know all there is to know about him. Likewise, the fox feels he has nothing important or interesting to say. The horse encourages and supports them both, ultimately telling the boy, “Always remember you matter, you’re important and you are loved, and you bring to this world things no one else can” (109). The book suggests that positive social connections are essential to an increased sense of self-worth, and that this benefit is reciprocal.
The Value of Friendship
The book shows that friendship is one of the most valuable aspects of a person’s life, in part because our friends help us to overcome our challenges in recognizing our own worth and value. The story creates a growing team of creatures who build trust and understanding together, arguing that a group is stronger than any single individual.
At the book’s conclusion, the boy realizes that his friends’ love is a form of belonging, having searched for “home” throughout the majority of the story. The ending has him asking rhetorically, “Home isn’t always a place is it?” (111). He realizes that “we are here” to love and, the horse adds, “be loved” (105). The mole tells the boy he sometimes feels lost too, “but we love you, and love brings you home” (41). This form of love and compassion constitutes a “refus[al] to give up” rather than resignation, according to the wise horse (57). The story emphasizes the message that having friends who one can ask for help makes one stronger and more resilient. This is emphasized by the difference in the animals’ characteristics, enabling the group to benefit from different strengths and offer support for different vulnerabilities.
The idea of resilience is key to this theme. When the mole lovingly supports the fox by freeing him from the snare, this affects the fox so deeply that he becomes more considerate of his response, ultimately befriending the mole and the boy. Later, when the boy mentions the fox’s silence, the horse claims that it’s lovely just to have the fox there with them. This reassures the fox enough that he can “dare” to be vulnerable with his friends, admitting to his own insecurities. Moreover, when “big things feel out of control,” the horse claims, we can focus on who we love to stay calm (93), voicing a common strategy for calming anxiety to feel safe and supported. Thus, the horse reassures the boy, “Everyone is a bit scared […]. But we are less scared together” (52). This theme shows how friends confer strength in many ways: with their love, support, help, presence, and honesty.
