The Mole

The Mole, or simply Mole, is the second character to appear in the book. He appears alongside Boy at the very beginning of the book when the two first meet. Mole is best characterized as a fearless little critter with an insatiable love for cake.

**Characterization through Cake**

One of Mole's main defining characteristics is his bravery. Being a mole, Mole is a very small animal. There are some overworld illustrations where Mole is drawn as an oval while the other characters get silhouettes due to his small size! But despite his small size, Mole has no qualms facing the world head-on. One instance this behavior is shown is when Mole first meets Boy, Fox, and Horse, who are all much bigger than him, and he greets them like a friend. Instead of being fazed or scared by the giant world around him, Mole accepts his small size and continues living life to the fullest by never letting his size stop him from getting what he wants.

One other main characteristic of Mole is his love for cake. Even when the current conversation has nothing to do with cake, Mole will find a way to mention wanting and/or loving cake. Although Mole's love for cake is often endearing, he can be greedy at times. This is shown by his tendency to eat an entire cake by himself in one sitting without leaving any left for others.

At the beginning of the book, Boy and Mole spend their time walking through the vast wilderness while asking each other questions. While Boy's questions often deal with the nature of life and being, Mole's questions are much more personal in nature. Mole's questions usually consist of getting to know Boy, such as what he wants to be when he grows up. By showing a consistent interest in learning more about Boy as a person, Mole demonstrates he cares for his friends by wanting to learn all about them. He also demonstrates his kind heart by helping Fox escape a trap despite him threatening to kill him and by patiently answering all of Boy's questions to the best of his abilities.

Mole, like the other characters, grows as a character by the end of the book. Mole's main character flaw is that his love for cake can cause him to act greedy and selfish when he doesn't mean to do so. He holds cake to such a high regard that when Horse asks everyone what their reason for going on is, Mole answers cake. However, immediately after that interaction happens, Mole confides in Boy that he has finally found something better than cake. Although Boy doesn't believe him, Mole insists that he has. The one thing better than cake is a hug with friends. The group then shares a big group hug together. While it may not be a major change, this scene shows that Mole holds his friendships with Boy, Fox, and Horse above all else. Including cake, and for Mole, that's saying a lot!

**Value in Individuality and Authenticity**

Before Horse joins the group in the second half of the book, Mole is the one who answers all of Boy's thought-provoking questions. Through his answers to Boy's questions, Mole's beliefs and worldview can be extracted and dissected. Mole lives his life by following the following principles:

* Time spent with friends is never time wasted. However, the biggest waste of time is comparing yourself to others.
* One of the biggest kindnesses there is is being kind to yourself. We often wait for kindness, but being kind to yourself can start right now.
* The best kind of success is being able to love and be loved. You are loved regardless if you're ordinary or extraordinary.
* If at first you don't succeed, have some cake.
* To live in the present moment, you need to sit down, take a deep breath, and focus on something you love.

Mole puts a lot of value in individuality and authenticity. He doesn't see the point of living life trying to be someone else or diminishing yourself due to something like fear. Overall, Mole's life principles can be summed up by living fearlessly, living in the present moment, and living with kindness for yourself. Mole is an easygoing character who knows what he wants, doesn't shy away from being himself at all times, and always carries himself being kind to himself as well as to others.