The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse

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.