Political, Social and Moral Messages in the Works of Dr. Seuss

A detailed Summary of Political, Social and Moral Messages in the Works of Dr. Seuss

Theodore Seuss Geisel, better known to generations of readers all over the world as "Dr. Seuss," is the American author of many popular children's books. Dr. Seuss' "deft combination of easy words, swift rhymes and batty nonsense" (Horn 69) has convinced many children that reading does not have to be a boring chore, but instead can be fun and entertaining. Amidst these wacky drawings of zany characters spouting off crazy rhetoric, there is much hidden symbolism. Many of Dr. Seuss' works contain political, social, and moral messages.

Political messages in Dr. Seuss' works include war, economic and environmental themes. Two of Dr. Seuss' later works, The Butter Battle Book and The Lorax, "take strong stands on the dangers of indifference to world affairs." (Horn 70) In The Butter Battle Book, Seuss takes nuclear war as his theme. Two groups of animals live on either side of a stone wall. One side eats their bread butter side up, while the other side eats their bread butter side down. Because of each group's odd ways, neither side trusts the other. Each side sets up a border patrol with mild protection. Over the course of the book, the weapons get more complicated and powerful until each side invents "the bitsy big-boy b

A social issue Dr. Seuss deals with is fascism. In many of his books characters "extol friendship between differing racial, ethnic and national groups." (Lystad 4) Dr. Seuss' book The Sneetches is a book about a fanciful group of creatures, the Sneetches. These Sneetches are of two kinds, " the plain-bellied and the star-bellied, the latter considering themselves superior to the former." (Morite 70) Because of this seemingly trivial physical difference, these two groups do not get along. Because they are looked down upon, the starless Sneetches stars hire someone to place stars upon their bellies. As a result, the other group of Sneetches has their stars removed. Because of all the confusion, none of the Sneetches know who belongs to what group. By the end of the story these two groups come to the conclusion that, "stars or no stars, they are all the same kind of Sneetch deep down, and one is not better than the other." (Reading Today 7)

Political messages can also be found in The Lorax, in which "the threat is environmental." (Lystad 4) In this book the Once-ler, an evil character, comes to the beautiful land where the Truffula trees grow. The Once-Ler sees the trees only as a commercial profit and chops them down to make products. The Lorax, the funny brown hero who wants to save the trees and animals, preaches against this, but the Once-Ler does not listen. He builds a giant factory which fills the air with smog. No one listens until all of the animals and fish die from pollution and all of the trees are chopped down. In the end, the Once-Ler realizes his mistakes and gives the last remaining Truffula seed to a boy. He tells the boy that the Lorax was right after all, and that if the boy plants the seed and treats it with care, there is hope for the environment and for those who live in it.

Political issues arise agai

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Approximate Word count = 1250
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English