Untitled Essay Research Paper By Justin Alan — страница 2

growing. Later on, the Lorax showed up once again speaking for ! the Humming-fish. They had to relocate also because of the glop from the thneed machine was being put into the pond. While the Once-ler and Lorax were talking, the very last Truffula tree was chopped down. The Lorax said nothing. He just left the Once-ler and never looked back. All that the Lorax left was a small pile of rocks with the word “UNLESS” on them. For many years the Once-ler worried about the message the Lorax had left on the rocks. After many years, he finally figured out what it meant. It meant that “UNLESS someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not” (59). The Once-ler then gives the last Truffula seed so that the boy could plant it. Then the Lorax and

all his friends could return. Proffitt 4 Geisel’s The Lorax symbolizes the problem with the environment. “His words are a plea to future generations, challenging the youth to revive the wilderness ravaged by their predecessors” (Udvari). This particular book was written for the sole purpose of educating children on how to protect the environment so that future generations will have a good place to live. Geisel not only wrote about the environmental problems facing us, he also wrote of the prejudices in society. The Sneetches is a story about two different groups of Sneetches–the Star-Belly Sneetches and the Plain-Belly Sneetches. The Star-Belly Sneetches are very snooty, and they exclude the Plain-Belly Sneetches from everything. In their eyes, the Plain-Belly Sneetches

are not good enough to participate in anything that the Star-Bellys do. One day a man named Sylvester McMonkey McBean shows up. He has a machine to give the Plain-Bellys a star on their belly. McBean charges three dollars for each star. Now, because of McBean, the Plain-Belly Sneetches have stars; but instead of including them into their group, the Star-Belly Sneetches have their stars removed for ten dollars each. The Sneetches are running in and out of McBean’s machines until they run out of money. They no longer know who is who so McBean leaves and the Sneetches decide that “Sneetches are Sneet! ches and no kind of Sneetch is the Best on the beaches” (24). Geisel’s The Sneetches symbolizes the problem of prejudice in the world. The Sneetches are of two kinds–this can

be compared to the human race being different colors. Often today one race thinks it is superior to the others just as the Star-Belly Sneetches thought of themselves as being superior to the Plain-Belly Sneetches. The story of The Sneetches teaches Proffitt 5 children that all are equal, and that no one race or person is better than the other. Theodor Geisel also wrote of historical events which led to the injustice of mankind and misuse of power. Geisel’s best known book symbolizing this is Yertle the Turtle. Yertle is the king of the Island of Sala-ma-sond. He is a very arrogant and conceited turtle. Yertle is so obsessed with being ruler and king that he wants to rule over more than just the island. Yertle then orders nine turtles to stack one on another, and Yertle climbs

to the top. Once on top, Yertle decides he is ruler over everything he sees. Not satisfied, Yertle orders for two hundred more turtles to pile on the stack. Right after the order is given, Yertle hears the voice of Mack, the turtle on the bottom. Mack asks Yertle to please not stack any more because his back is hurting, and he is hungry. Yertle tells him to hush, and the turtles continue to pile on. Once again, after Yertle reaches the top, he is not satisfied. Yertle orders for 5,607 turtles to pile on top of Mack. Right after! the order for more turtles, Mack burps. His burp shakes the tower of turtles , and Yertle falls off into the mud. From that day on, he is known as King of the Mud. Geisel goes on to say “And the turtles; of course…all the turtles are free as turtles

and , maybe, all creatures should be” (Seuss, Yertle the Turtle 28). “The story of Yertle, a deceitful turtle, is a parable on the life of Hitler” (Moritz 140). Yertle portrays Hitler and his obsession for power. The lesson Geisel uses in this story is that pride can be a person’s greatest downfall, just as it was for Yertle. Proffitt 6 The line of Dr. Seuss books are all very important lessons. The reactions to the books that Geisel wrote, under the name of Dr. Seuss’s are still evident today considering that “Even after his death in 1991, Dr. Seuss continues to be the best-selling author of children’s books in the world” (Moritz 140). Geisel’s books were an influencing factor upon many readers. “Dr. Suess was a unique talent, and I am never surprised by the