The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse

The storm is a motif that emphasizes The Value of Friendship. Literally, the four friends encounter dark clouds rolling in, and the horse says that when this happens, they should “keep going.” Figuratively, this represents the storms of life, such as pain, loss, grief, or disappointment. The story presents the symbolic storm optimistically, as an episode that passes after a while, and is made more endurable by the support of friends. 

The book suggests that the metaphorical storm can make people “feel out of control,” as the horse says, but that it is possible to “focus on what you love right under your nose” (93). For the friends, during this literal storm, that is each other: In one illustration, the friends literally sit nose-to-nose while the rain is pouring down (95). The horse reassures them that, literally and figuratively, the storm “will pass” because they always do. This expresses the story’s message that time lessens the pain or hurt of life’s challenges, combined with the friends who support and love us through these times.

Once the storm moves on, the boy is depicted lying draped atop the horse’s back in a black and white illustration, evidently exhausted by the experience, a feeling emphasized by the lack of color (96).