Mole (Wind in the Willows)

Mole is a friend of Rat, Mr. Badger and Mr. Toad and is one of the main characters in the 1908 book The Wind in the Willows and many of it's television and film adaptations, including his counterpart in the 1949 Disney film The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad.

Role on the story[]

One day, Mole grows tired of spring cleaning and decides to leave his underground home and see the outside world. He travels to a riverbank where he meets and befriends a water vole named Rat (nicknamed Ratty). Mole goes on to live with Ratty and meets several other friends of Ratty; Otter, Mr. Toad and Mr. Badger.

After Mr. Toad becomes obsessed with motorcars, Mole, Ratty and Mr. Badger put him under house arrest at Toad Hall until he changes his mind. However, Mr. Toad escapes and ends up stealing a car, which results in him being given a 20 year jail sentence, but later escapes.

Later when Otter's son Portly goes missing, Mole and Ratty go to look for him. They find him in the care of Pan, who removes their memories of this encounter stating lest the awful remembrance should remain and grow, and overshadow mirth and pleasure.

Mole later helps Mr. Toad regain Toad Hall after it is taken over by Wild Wooders.

In the sequel The Willows In Winter (which takes place some amount of time after the original story), Mole is depicted as having a nephew whom he takes in following the latter's parents deaths. In winter, Mole decides to tell his nephew about how he met Ratty and the others, but just then Portly (now an adolescent) arrives and then falls asleep halfway telling Mole about Ratty and Otter. Believing that his friends are in trouble, Mole leaves his nephew to care for Portly whilst he goes to Ratty's home. Mole upon arriving at the riverbank finds it frozen and attempts to cross it, only to fall through it after stepping on a thin patch of ice.

The next day, Mole has not returned, which results in Ratty and Mr. Badger going to look for him. They at first recruit Mr. Toad (who has now developed an interest in planes) to help, but he later forgets and does stunts in his plane. At the river, they find a letter inside the trunk of a tree which is discovered to be Mole's will. This makes Mr. Badger believe that Mole has died and prepares a funeral for him. Unbeknownst to the others, Mole is on a small island downstream and uses Ratty's boat (which floated to the island after the river began to thaw) to return to the mainland. That night, he reaches the mainland and is spotted by Portly, who mistakes him for a ghost and runs back to the others, who are attending Mole's "funeral". Mr. Badger attempts to banish the "ghost", before discovering that it is indeed Mole.

A party is later held to mark Mole's return, but it is a flop due to everyone missing Mr. Toad (who had been arrested after being discovered by the same judge who sentenced him to jail for the car theft, but is spared jail after he is vouched for by Mr. Badger and the editor of Times paper).

After Mr. Toad returns to Toad Hall, he finds it empty of his belongings (as they had been removed for safekeeping as the house had flooded from the spring thaw). Fearing the worst, Mr. Toad accidentally sets fire to Toad Hall, but refuses rescue and resigns himself to burn to death. Fortunately, Mole and Ratty use an underground tunnel to get into Toad Hall and rescue Mr. Toad, who is told that an American relative of his has died and left Mr. Toad $5,000,000 (£3,211,098) in his will, which would help restore Toad Hall.

Personality[]

Mole is a sensible animal, yet generous and extremely loyal to his friends. He is closest of all to Rat, the animal who teaches him the value of exploration after he leaves his home in the first chapter. Since Mole is an underground animal by nature, his journey into the upper world near the river poses the novel's first main conflict. A 'younger' character than Rat or Badger, Mole serves as our first lens into the story, as he slowly matures from a frightened animal into a self-reliant, brave and clever companion.

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Mole (Wind in the Willows)

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