As a negative character, Hem is conservative, resisting any change. He is so stubborn that he prefers to suffer from hunger and poverty rather than go out to search for new cheese because he is uncertain about the outside world. Even when Haw came back to invite him to go out together, he still made no response. In Hem's opinion, doing nothing and just waiting should be the best way to react to change, with the hope of the return of the Old Cheese.
Hem represents a kind of people in our real life, who are afraid to change and hold on to their Old Cheese. They can't bear the likely failure of going out to struggle for new cheese. They almost have no ambition to a better life and therefore make no effort to think up effective ways to meet challenges and changes, who are indeed cowards.
As far as I am concerned, Hem is less likely to go out and seek his new cheese. Such kind of people are the least enthusastic human beings and so there is no doubt that they are sure to be eliminated by history sooner or later.
