thesis of the lorax

Fiction | Picture Book | Early Reader Picture Book | Published in 1971

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Analysis of Dr Seusss The Lorax

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50 Years Of NPR

'the lorax' warned us 50 years ago, but we didn't listen.

Elizabeth Blair

Call it fate or an unfortunate coincidence that Dr. Seuss' The Lorax celebrates its 50th anniversary the same week the United Nations releases an urgent report on the dire consequences of human-induced climate change. The conflict between the industrious, polluting Once-ler and the feisty Lorax, who "speaks for the trees," feels more prescient than ever.

"Once-ler!" he cried with a cruffulous croak. "Once-ler! You're making such smogulous smoke! My poor Swomee-Swans...why, they can't sing a note! No one can sing who has smog in his throat.

"He wanted a book that captured the effects of pollution on ecosystems and I would say it was really ahead of its time," says anthropologist and evolutionary biologist Nathaniel Dominy, who teaches at Dartmouth. "The different species disappear from the narrative in succession," he notes. "The Bar-ba-loots leave because they run out of food. The Swomee-Swans leave because the air is polluted. The humming fish leave because the water's polluted. He's describing what we would now call a ' trophic cascade ,' and for me, as a scientist, I just find that genius that he anticipated that concept by a decade or more."

While it might be a children's book, The Lorax 's ominous message of what happens when you harvest nature to death made it an icon of the environmental movement, spawning movie and stage adaptations not to mention a gazillion school projects .

With its mostly gray, scrappy, barren images, the story stood in sharp contrast to other books by Theodor Geisel (aka Dr. Seuss) such as The Cat in the Hat and Green Eggs and Ham .

The environmental movement takes root

Geisel began writing The Lorax at a time of growing concern about the environment. Images of an oil-slicked river in Cleveland catching fire in 1969, the first Earth Day in 1970 and other events helped build the movement and put it front and center. According to Geisel biographer Donald Pease, the author believed in the movement but didn't care for its rhetoric. He thought it was "preachy and bossy," says Pease.

Geisel was also furious about construction going on in his La Jolla, Calif., neighborhood. "They were destroying quite beautiful eucalyptus trees, and he wanted to do something about this, and he had to find a way to transform what he understood to be a propaganda-oriented perspective on these matters into a fable that even children could understand." But, Pease explains, "he also was confronted with writer's block."

America Reckons With Racial Injustice

Dr. seuss enterprises will shelve 6 books, citing 'hurtful' portrayals.

Code Switch

Dr. seuss books can be racist, but students keep reading them, inspiration strikes during a trip to kenya.

His wife, Audrey Geisel, suggested they go on a trip to the Mount Kenya Safari Club . While they were there, "he caught a view in the mountains of elephants crossing," says Pease. "He said afterward 'the logjam broke' and he was able to write 90% of The Lorax that afternoon."

"It is built on one of the most beautiful landscapes with a spectacular view of Mount Kenya so I'm not surprised Dr. Seuss was inspired by that," says Wanjira Mathai, vice president and regional director for Africa at The World Resources Institute.

What can happen to that beauty is made vividly clear by the end of the story. The greedy Once-ler ravages the land by chopping down Truffula Trees. He needs them to make his "thneed" garment.

The Lorax is apoplectic.

"I speak for the trees, for the trees have no tongues. And I'm asking you, sir, at the top of my lungs" — he was very upset as he shouted and puffed -- "What's that THING you've made out of my Truffula tuft?"

Spoiler alert: the land where once upon a time, "the grass was still green and the pond was still wet and the clouds were still clean" is destroyed by the Once-ler's insatiable appetite to sell more "thneeds."

"Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot ..."

The parallels with this week's U.N. climate report are stark. "The report paints a very sobering picture of the unforgiving, unimaginable world we have in store if our addiction to burning fossil fuels and destroying forests continues," says Mathai. She says Dr. Seuss' eco-parable is a "powerful depiction" of this point, despite being written so many years ago. "The Thneed — read fossil fuels — is something 'everyone needs.' And sadly with the Lorax, the damage was done and the environment that was bustling with life, destroyed."

The Lorax ends with a kind of challenge.

UNLESS someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing's going to get better. It's not.

"He kind of says 'I told you so,' like, I told you this was going to be bad and now it's bad," says Mark Gozonsky, a writer and high school English teacher in Los Angeles whose students have analyzed The Lorax in the context of global warming. Like Mathai, Gozonsky is struck by the parallels with this week's report. "The book ends on a question mark ... 'Well, what are you going to do about it?' And that's the very question mark that we land on today," he says. So many years later scientists are still warning, "You've got ... a couple of years to make a difference ... Time, as we all know, is ticking away."

Book Reviews

'becoming dr. seuss' reveals theodor geisel as a complicated icon, finding hope in the last seed left.

Mathai still believes it's important to be hopeful. Her mother was a little like the Lorax of Kenya, the very place that so inspired Geisel's story. Nobel Peace Prize winner Wangari Maathai founded The Green Belt movement, which is credited with planting more than 51 million trees across the country, part of a campaign to end poverty.

"My mother ... always talked about trees as a symbol of hope and so The Lorax in many ways was that and remains that for me. That each of us can be such a potent agent of change. We can be custodians of hope."

Just as she read The Lorax when she was a girl, Mathai reads it to her two daughters today.

"The Once-ler saved that one seed and waited for someone who cared to come along. It will take each of us doing our part to reverse what is coming. The latest report indicates we have even less time to turn things around," she says. Mathai takes heart that "we have a number of 'Loraxes' spreading the word and sounding the alarm."

The Lorax Analysis

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The Lessons of “The Lorax”

In 1989, the year that Iran’s Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini issued a fatwa calling for the death of Salman Rushdie , for writing “ The Satanic Verses ,” American parents in Laytonville, a small town in Northern California, demanded that their children’s elementary school take Dr. Seuss’s 1971 book, “ The Lorax ,” off its list of required reading for second graders. The book is “ Silent Spring ” for the under-ten set. “I speak for the trees,” the Lorax says, attempting to defend a soon to be blighted forest, its tufted Truffula trees chopped down and knit into hideous thneeds—“a Fine-Something-That-All-People-Need”—until there is nothing left but one single seed.

Like the long-ago banning of E. B. White ’s “ Stuart Little ,” by the New York Public Library, the rumpus about “The Lorax” is at first bewildering. Dr. Seuss—Theodor Geisel—deemed it his best book. Schools across the country assigned it. Mrs. Pate’s class at the Pepper Pike School, in Ohio, sent the author new endings. “I planted that seed, / It was so very dry,” Robby Price, a third grader, wrote. “Then all of a sudden, / It grew 8 miles high.”

There were other Loraxes, too. In 1972, Christopher D. Stone, a law professor at the University of Southern California, argued for granting trees a legal voice. “I am quite seriously proposing that we give legal rights to forests, oceans, rivers and other so-called ‘natural objects,’ ” he wrote, in “Should Trees Have Standing?,” an article that was cited, that same year, in a Supreme Court dissent, and helped galvanize the environmental movement.

“I drew a Lorax and he was obviously a Lorax,” Geisel said. “Doesn’t he look like a Lorax to you?” But, in 1989, to Bill and Judith Bailey, the founders of a logging-equipment business in Laytonville, the Lorax looked like an environmental activist. “Papa, we can’t cut trees down,” their eight-year-old son, Sammy, said after reading the book, in which a “Super-Axe-Hacker” whacks “four Truffula Trees at one smacker.” Townspeople were caught up in the so-called “timber wars,” when environmentalists camped out in trees and loggers wore T-shirts that read “Spotted Owl Tastes Like Chicken.” Logging families took out ads in the local newspaper. One said, “To teach our children that harvesting redwood trees is bad is not the education we need.”

This year marks the fiftieth anniversary of “The Lorax,” an occasion that passed with little fanfare, Dr. Seuss himself having been made into something of a thneed in the latest round of book battles. Earlier this year, on Geisel’s birthday, his estate announced that it would no longer publish six of his lesser-known books, in the wake of criticism that they contain racist caricatures. Books go out of print all the time, and this decision wouldn’t have been especially notable except that it began trending on Twitter. “Buying all the Dr. Seuss volumes for the kids before the woke book burners can get to them all,” the conservative commentator Ben Shapiro tweeted. Senator Ted Cruz sought campaign donations: “Stand with Ted & Dr. Seuss against the cancel culture mob to claim your signed copy of Green Eggs and Ham!  ”

Meanwhile, groups of parents, not to say cancel-culture mobs, have been assembling at school-board meetings to demand the removal of books from classrooms and school libraries, often in districts that have been battling over mask and vaccination mandates . Book-banning crusaders, waving the flag of “parental rights,” have particularly decried books about American history and racial injustice, and books that include lesbian, gay, and trans characters. In at least seven states, they’ve objected to Maia Kobabe’s 2019 book, “ Gender Queer: A Memoir .” Schools in Missouri have pulled Alison Bechdel’s “ Fun Home .” Glenn Youngkin’s campaign for governor of Virginia believed this to be a winning issue. “When my son showed me his reading assignment, my heart sunk,” a fretful mother says in a Youngkin campaign ad, after discovering that her son, a high-school senior, was reading the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel “ Beloved ,” by the Nobel laureate Toni Morrison , in an A.P. English class. Progressive legislators, parents, and school boards, too, have called for the removal of books, including “ The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn ” and “ To Kill a Mockingbird .”

No book has a right to be on a reading list. Teachers frequently change what they teach. Parents are likely to take an interest in what their children are reading. Booksellers decide what books to sell. And pious attacks on books are very often absurd. What’s new is that lately some senior staff of organizations founded on a commitment to freedom of the press and freedom of expression appear to be wavering on upholding those principles. Last year, when Target briefly stopped selling Abigail Shrier’s “Irreversible Damage: The Transgender Craze Seducing Our Daughters,” a much admired deputy director of the A.C.L.U. tweeted support on his personal account for “stopping the circulation of this book and these ideas.” (He later deleted the tweet.) This summer, the American Booksellers Association, a longtime sponsor of Banned Books Week, whose theme this year is “Books Unite Us, Censorship Divides Us,” sent copies of Shrier’s book to seven hundred and fifty bookstores, and then apologized: “This is a serious, violent incident that goes against ABA’s ends policies, values, and everything we believe and support.” The apology proved insufficient to many booksellers. “We’re dealing with a historically white, cis organization in a white supremacist society,” a member of the A.B.A.’s diversity-equity-and-inclusion committee told Publishers Weekly .

The book-ban battle isn’t about to end anytime soon. And it’s a battle that conservatives will win if progressives agree with them about the righteousness of banning books, disagreeing only on which books to ban. In the year of the fatwa, the fuss over “The Lorax” played out differently. The Laytonville Unified School District convened a committee to consider the Baileys’ complaint. It voted to keep the book on the required-reading list, with the superintendent arguing that the book isn’t about the timber industry but about “greed and the depletion of a finite resource.” Then the school board said that, if a parent really had a problem with a reading assignment, that parent could figure out a substitute. “No one ever suggested that the book be banned,” Bill Bailey said. And Geisel told the Associated Press that he didn’t believe that no one should ever harvest a tree. “I live in a wooden house,” he said. “I’m sitting in a wooden chair.” His book was also printed on paper made from trees. And so far, at least, it has resisted the Super-Axe-Hacker. ♦

The Lorax and PTSD: Environmental Trauma in Dr. Seuss’s Classic Tale

Whispering through the stumps of a once-lush forest, the haunting echoes of environmental devastation intertwine with the psychological scars of those who bear witness to nature’s demise. This poignant imagery serves as a fitting introduction to the exploration of Dr. Seuss’s classic tale, “The Lorax,” and its profound connection to Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). The beloved children’s book, first published in 1971, has long been recognized as a powerful allegory for environmental conservation. However, beneath its colorful illustrations and whimsical rhymes lies a deeper narrative that resonates with the psychological impact of witnessing ecological destruction.

“The Lorax” tells the story of the Once-ler, a ambitious entrepreneur who discovers a forest of Truffula Trees. Blinded by greed, he begins to harvest the trees to create “Thneeds,” a versatile but ultimately unnecessary product. As the forest is systematically destroyed, the Lorax appears to speak for the trees and the creatures who depend on them. Despite the Lorax’s impassioned pleas, the Once-ler continues his destructive practices until the last Truffula Tree falls, leaving behind a barren wasteland.

While “The Lorax” is primarily known for its environmental message, it also serves as a compelling metaphor for the psychological trauma that can result from witnessing ecological devastation. PTSD Case Studies: Exploring Trauma Through Real-Life Experiences have shown that individuals who experience or witness traumatic events can develop long-lasting psychological effects. In the context of environmental destruction, this phenomenon has given rise to the concept of eco-anxiety, a chronic fear of environmental doom that shares many similarities with PTSD.

The character of the Lorax can be viewed as a representation of those who experience environmental trauma firsthand. As the guardian and voice of the Truffula Forest, the Lorax bears witness to its gradual destruction, powerless to stop the Once-ler’s relentless exploitation. This experience mirrors the helplessness and distress often felt by individuals facing large-scale environmental disasters or witnessing the slow degradation of their natural surroundings.

The Lorax’s reactions throughout the story parallel many symptoms associated with PTSD. His repeated attempts to confront the Once-ler and halt the destruction can be seen as a manifestation of hypervigilance, a common PTSD symptom characterized by a state of increased alertness and sensitivity to potential threats. The Lorax’s persistent warnings and pleas reflect the heightened awareness and constant state of alarm experienced by those grappling with eco-anxiety and environmental trauma.

The Once-ler’s Role in Triggering Environmental Trauma

The Once-ler, driven by his insatiable desire for profit, serves as the catalyst for the environmental trauma depicted in the story. His actions not only devastate the ecosystem but also inflict psychological harm on the Lorax and the forest’s inhabitants. The Once-ler’s inability to recognize the consequences of his actions until it’s too late mirrors the real-world challenges of addressing environmental issues before they reach a critical point.

As the story progresses, we can identify various PTSD symptoms manifested by the characters. The Lorax’s hypervigilance is evident in his constant monitoring of the forest’s health and his immediate response to any sign of threat. This heightened state of awareness is a hallmark of PTSD, where individuals remain on high alert even in the absence of immediate danger.

The Once-ler, on the other hand, exhibits avoidance behaviors characteristic of PTSD. After the destruction of the forest, he isolates himself in his Lerkim, refusing to confront the consequences of his actions. This avoidance is a common coping mechanism for those struggling with trauma, as they attempt to distance themselves from reminders of the traumatic event.

Perhaps the most striking manifestation of PTSD symptoms in “The Lorax” is the emotional numbing and detachment portrayed in the story’s aftermath. The Once-ler’s description of the Grickle-grass growing all around and the wind smelling “slow-and-sour when it blows” evokes a sense of emptiness and disconnection from the once-vibrant environment. This emotional detachment is often observed in individuals suffering from PTSD, who may struggle to connect with their surroundings or experience positive emotions.

Intergenerational Trauma and Environmental Legacy

One of the most profound aspects of “The Lorax” is its exploration of intergenerational trauma and the long-lasting impact of environmental destruction. The devastation of the Truffula Valley doesn’t just affect the immediate inhabitants; it creates a legacy of loss that extends to future generations. This concept aligns with research on intergenerational trauma, which suggests that the effects of traumatic experiences can be passed down through generations.

In the story, the inherited trauma is evident in the barren landscape left behind after the last Truffula Tree falls. The once-thriving ecosystem is reduced to a desolate wasteland, devoid of the vibrant life it once supported. This environmental legacy serves as a constant reminder of the trauma inflicted upon the land and its inhabitants, much like the psychological scars carried by survivors of traumatic events.

The introduction of the boy character at the end of the story represents hope for healing these intergenerational environmental wounds. By seeking out the Once-ler and listening to his tale, the boy takes the first step towards understanding the trauma of the past and potentially breaking the cycle of destruction. This narrative element underscores the importance of education and awareness in addressing both environmental issues and the psychological impact they can have on individuals and communities.

Coping Mechanisms and Resilience in The Lorax

Despite the bleak circumstances presented in “The Lorax,” the story also offers insights into coping mechanisms and resilience in the face of environmental trauma. The Lorax’s persistent efforts to protect and preserve the environment, even in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds, demonstrate the importance of taking action as a means of coping with eco-anxiety and environmental PTSD.

The Lorax’s unwavering commitment to speaking for the trees and the creatures of the forest exemplifies the resilience often observed in individuals who have experienced trauma. PTSD in Fiction: Exploring Mental Health Representation Through Characters often highlights this resilience as a key factor in overcoming traumatic experiences. In the case of the Lorax, his determination to stand up for the environment, even when his efforts seem futile, serves as an inspiring example of perseverance in the face of adversity.

The story also emphasizes the importance of hope in environmental activism and in dealing with eco-anxiety. The final message of the book, encapsulated in the word “UNLESS,” suggests that there is still potential for positive change if people take action. This message of hope is crucial for building resilience in the face of environmental challenges and can be a powerful tool for those struggling with eco-anxiety or environmental PTSD.

Applying The Lorax’s Lessons to Modern Environmental Challenges

The enduring relevance of “The Lorax” lies in its ability to serve as a tool for environmental education and awareness. By presenting complex environmental issues in an accessible and engaging format, the story can help readers of all ages understand the potential consequences of unchecked environmental exploitation. This understanding is crucial for addressing eco-anxiety and environmental PTSD in today’s world, where the impacts of climate change and environmental degradation are becoming increasingly apparent.

PTSD and Sensory Overload: Exploring the Link and Coping Strategies can be particularly relevant when discussing the overwhelming nature of environmental challenges. The sensory details provided in “The Lorax,” from the vibrant colors of the Truffula Trees to the stark emptiness of the polluted landscape, can help readers process and understand the sensory aspects of environmental change.

Moreover, the story encourages proactive environmental stewardship as a means of preventing future trauma. By illustrating the consequences of inaction and the potential for positive change, “The Lorax” inspires readers to take responsibility for their environmental impact and work towards sustainable solutions.

The Enduring Impact of Dr. Seuss’s Cautionary Tale

As we reflect on the parallels between “The Lorax” and PTSD, it becomes clear that Dr. Seuss’s cautionary tale holds profound relevance to both environmental issues and mental health concerns. The story serves as a powerful reminder of the psychological toll that environmental destruction can take on individuals and communities, while also offering hope for healing and positive change.

PTSD History: From Ancient Times to Modern Diagnosis shows us that trauma responses have been recognized throughout human history. “The Lorax” contributes to this understanding by illustrating how environmental trauma can manifest in ways similar to other forms of PTSD. By drawing these connections, the story encourages readers to consider the broader implications of environmental degradation on mental health and well-being.

Furthermore, “The Lorax” highlights the importance of early intervention and prevention in addressing both environmental issues and mental health concerns. PTSD in Children: Recognizing Symptoms and Providing Support is particularly relevant in this context, as the story emphasizes the impact of environmental trauma on future generations and the role of education in breaking the cycle of destruction.

The story’s exploration of intergenerational trauma also resonates with current understanding of how traumatic experiences can be passed down through generations. PTSD and Narcissism: Can Trauma Trigger Narcissistic Traits? examines how trauma can shape personality and behavior, a theme subtly present in the Once-ler’s character arc.

In conclusion, “The Lorax” stands as a testament to the power of storytelling in addressing complex issues of environmental conservation and mental health. By framing ecological destruction through the lens of trauma and PTSD, the story provides a unique perspective on the psychological impact of environmental change. It serves as a call to action, urging readers to address both environmental concerns and mental health issues with empathy, understanding, and proactive engagement.

As we face growing environmental challenges and increasing awareness of mental health issues, the lessons of “The Lorax” remain as relevant as ever. The story reminds us of the interconnectedness of environmental and psychological well-being, encouraging us to speak for the trees and for those who bear the psychological scars of environmental trauma. By heeding the Lorax’s warning and embracing the story’s message of hope and responsibility, we can work towards a future where both our environment and our mental health are protected and nurtured.

1. Seuss, Dr. (1971). The Lorax. Random House Books for Young Readers.

2. American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.). Arlington, VA: American Psychiatric Publishing.

3. Clayton, S., Manning, C. M., Krygsman, K., & Speiser, M. (2017). Mental Health and Our Changing Climate: Impacts, Implications, and Guidance. Washington, D.C.: American Psychological Association, and ecoAmerica.

4. Pihkala, P. (2020). Anxiety and the Ecological Crisis: An Analysis of Eco-Anxiety and Climate Anxiety. Sustainability, 12(19), 7836. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12197836

5. Albrecht, G., Sartore, G. M., Connor, L., Higginbotham, N., Freeman, S., Kelly, B., … & Pollard, G. (2007). Solastalgia: the distress caused by environmental change. Australasian psychiatry, 15(sup1), S95-S98.

6. Yehuda, R., & Lehrner, A. (2018). Intergenerational transmission of trauma effects: putative role of epigenetic mechanisms. World Psychiatry, 17(3), 243-257.

7. Cunsolo, A., & Ellis, N. R. (2018). Ecological grief as a mental health response to climate change-related loss. Nature Climate Change, 8(4), 275-281.

8. Swim, J. K., Stern, P. C., Doherty, T. J., Clayton, S., Reser, J. P., Weber, E. U., … & Howard, G. S. (2011). Psychology’s contributions to understanding and addressing global climate change. American Psychologist, 66(4), 241-250.

9. Ojala, M. (2012). Hope and climate change: The importance of hope for environmental engagement among young people. Environmental Education Research, 18(5), 625-642.

10. Gifford, R. (2011). The dragons of inaction: Psychological barriers that limit climate change mitigation and adaptation. American Psychologist, 66(4), 290-302.

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The Lorax Marxism Analysis

How it works

Looking at Dr. Seuss’s “The Lorax” with a Marxist perspective gives us a deep look at the social and economic messages hidden in this kids’ story. “The Lorax,” which came out in 1971, tells a touching tale about harming the environment and greedy companies. By using Marxist ideas, we can see themes like class struggle, feeling disconnected, and exploiting nature. These themes critique capitalist society strongly. The story’s about the Once-ler, a businessman who cuts down Truffula Trees for profit, and the Lorax, who speaks up for the trees and warns about unchecked industrial growth.

This conflict between the Once-ler and the Lorax is like the fight between the rich and the working class in Marxist thought.

In Marxist terms, the Once-ler stands for the rich, those who own stuff and care more about money than the environment or people. His quest for wealth destroys the Truffula Trees, which are crucial for the ecosystem and many animals. This kind of resource exploitation for money is typical of capitalism, where nature is just a means to make money. The Once-ler’s actions lead to environmental harm and social upheaval, showing how capitalism’s need for growth can be really destructive. The Lorax, on the flip side, represents the working class, pushing for eco-friendly practices and saving natural resources. But his warnings are ignored, showing how voices against capitalism are often sidelined. The barren land at the end is a harsh reminder of how unsustainable capitalist exploitation is.

Alienation, a big idea in Marxism, is also present in “The Lorax.” The Once-ler becomes more and more detached from the nature he’s ruining. This disconnect spreads to the forest creatures, who are forced to leave due to his actions. The Once-ler’s focus on profit blinds him to the impact of his actions, showing how capitalism creates a gap between people and nature. This alienation isn’t just physical; it’s moral too, as the Once-ler forgets about right and wrong in his chase for money. The Lorax leaving at the end highlights the ultimate separation of humans from nature, a sad comment on the crises caused by capitalism. The story ends with the Once-ler giving the last Truffula seed to the reader, calling for a change, a move back to nature, and rejecting harmful practices.

“The Lorax” also talks about how nature gets turned into products, a key point in Marxist thought. The Once-ler making Thneeds from Truffula Trees shows how capitalism turns nature into goods to sell. The Thneed, which isn’t really needed, symbolizes capitalist consumerism, where value is based on market demand, not actual worth. This leads to environmental damage as profit is put above ecological health. The story highlights how a capitalist economy, which sees nature as an endless resource, is unsustainable. The Lorax’s constant warnings show the need to manage resources fairly and sustainably, challenging the capitalist idea of endless growth. The story’s lasting message is its critique of the environmental and social costs of capitalism, urging us to rethink economic systems that put profit over the planet. Through its storytelling and characters, “The Lorax” offers strong Marxist insights into the links between environment, economy, and society.

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DOI:  10.18113/P8WC77

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Who Was the Real Lorax? Seeking the Inspiration for Dr. Seuss

A new essay explores the possible real-life examples for the Lorax character and Truffula trees.

Credit... Dr. Seuss Enterprises

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By JoAnna Klein

• July 23, 2018

What inspired the creature who was “shortish and oldish and brownish and mossy?” The one who spoke in a voice that was “sharpish and bossy?” He spoke for the trees, yet he called them his own. All that he left “in this mess was a small pile of rocks, with the one word … ‘UNLESS.’”

In 1970, millions of people observed Earth Day for the first time, and the Environmental Protection Agency was born. Joni Mitchell’s “Big Yellow Taxi” topped the charts.

And in La Jolla, Calif., Theodor Geisel, also known as Dr. Seuss, was fighting to keep a suburban development project from clearing the Eucalyptus trees around his home. But when he tried to write a book about conservation for children that wasn’t preachy or boring, he got writer’s block.

At his wife’s suggestion to clear his mind, they traveled to the Mount Kenya Safari Club, an exclusive resort where guests watched animals along Kenya’s Laikipia plateau.

And if you haven’t guessed by now, it was there that “The Lorax” took shape — on the blank side of a laundry list, nearly all of its environmental message created in a single afternoon.

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The Lorax : Capitalism, Ecocentrism, and the Apocalypse

Casey Schmidt , University of Richmond

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Bachelor of Arts

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Dr. Julietta Singh

“I am the Lorax, I speak for the trees.” With this quote, Dr. Seuss’s character the Lorax establishes himself as the spokesperson for nature and presents the main conflict of the iconic picture book: ecocentrism versus capitalism. Published in 1971 at the height of the modern North American environmental movement, contemporary readers could recognize this dichotomy mirrored in their own society. In the wake of Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring (1962), environmental stewardship had become increasingly politicized, bifurcating into pro-environmentalists and pro-capitalist, assuming that the value of one excluded the other, and producing a cache of literature both scientifically and politically charged. Though nature has been a theme in children’s literature since its inception, Seuss’s The Lorax was the first book to bring the problem of environmental protection to that audience in an overtly political way.

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Schmidt, Casey, "The Lorax : Capitalism, Ecocentrism, and the Apocalypse" (2015). Honors Theses . 803. https://scholarship.richmond.edu/honors-theses/803

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The Lorax Was Inspired by a Real Creature, And How Did We Not Know About This Before?

At the far end of town where the Grickle-grass grows, a team of professors has finally cracked The Lorax , by Dr. Seuss.

You may not have realized that The Lorax needed cracking, but that's why you're not an anthropologist at Dartmouth College.

In a paper released Monday in the prestigious journal Nature Ecology & Evolution , scholars who sound as if they have smallish bees up their noses claim to have discovered the biological source of the Lorax and his beloved Truffula Trees.

But first, some background.

As millions of children and parents know, The Lorax is about a lush land threatened by the Once-ler, who cuts down Truffula trees to make Thneeds, a kind of all-purpose, full-body sweater.

The Lorax, a furry little spoilsport "who speaks for the trees", objects with increasingly alarmed reports on the destruction caused by the Once-ler's industrial plant: there's not enough Truffula Fruit to go 'round.

Despite the story's silly words and jingly rhymes, its thesis is sobering and clear: Unbridled capitalism will destroy the Earth.

Dr. Seuss - the pen name of the late Theodor Seuss Geisel - published The Lorax in 1971, and it quickly became a classic children's book, a staple of the environmental movement and a major buzzkill for the logging industry.

Kids realize that the Lorax wants to protect the land and the Brown Bar-ba-loots, but scholars have long suspected that more is going on beneath the brightly colored tufts of the Truffula trees.

The new study, " Dr. Seuss and the Real Lorax ", stemmed from a chance encounter at Dartmouth.

Nathaniel J. Dominy, an anthropology professor with two small children, and Donald E. Pease, an English professor who wrote a biography of Geisel , found themselves seated next to each other at an academic dinner.

The two scholars soon realized that their work overlapped in a curious way: Dominy is an expert on primates in Kenya; Pease noted that Geisel published The Lorax soon after a trip to Kenya in 1970.

As Dr. Seuss would say, "Oh, the thinks you can think up if only you try!"

Now, almost a half-century after the Lorax first popped out of a stump, his real identity can be revealed.

Four scholars, led by Dominy, explain their method like this: "We used eigenface decomposition methods to calculate facial similarities and we generated the plot with t-distributed stochastic neighbor embedding (t-SNE), an iterative algorithm that down-projects multidimensional information into two dimensions for visualization."

About now, you may be thinking, "I would not read that on a boat, I would not read that with a goat," but hang on. That's just a fancy way of saying that the scientists fed photos of monkeys and illustrations of the Lorax into a computer to determine the closest match.

Their conclusion: The Lorax was inspired by the patas monkeys that live in West and East Africa. These creatures share the Lorax's general facial characteristics, particularly his distinctive mustache.

The monkeys' vocalizations sound like the Lorax's "sawdusty sneeze". And the monkeys depend, for 80 percent of their diet, on the Seussian-looking whistling thorn acacia trees of the Laikipia plateau.

Above: A look at the location of the Mount Kenya Safari Club together with data on the patchy distribution of patas monkeys (figure a). Researchers believe Dr. Seuss based "The Lorax" on the plight of the patas monkeys, a species that depends on the Seussian-looking whistling thorn acacia trees (figure e) for sustenance.

That may seem like a set of curious but inconsequential similarities, but these authors argue that how we think of the Lorax determines how we think about his plight.

Regarding the Lorax as an animal indigenous to the land of the Truffula trees "challenges traditional interpretations of the Lorax as an ecopoliceman asserting his authority."

In other words, the Lorax isn't some tiresome scold, some shrill environmentalist who makes us want to throw up our hands and sigh, "Good-by, Thing. You sing too long".

No, the Lorax is a creature intimately dependent on the land that the Once-ler is destroying. That, the authors suggest, makes his story much more sympathetic.

Of course, it's unlikely this study will sway the Whos down in Whoville. Among Dr. Seuss's books, The Lorax is strikingly apocalyptic and unusually polemic.

The story's imagery grows darker and darker until the land is denuded and the atmosphere clogged. On the final page, the Once-ler, now cognizant of the destruction he's wrought but apparently unwilling to do anything about it, tosses down the last precious Truffula seed to a little boy.

"You're in charge," the Once-ler says. "Grow a forest. Protect it from axes that hack. Then the Lorax and all of his friends may come back."

We don't need "eigenface decomposition methods" to know there's a lot riding on that one word "may."

2018 © The Washington Post

This article was originally published by The Washington Post .

by Dr. Seuss

The lorax character list, the once-ler.

The Once-ler is the story’s antagonist. He is never pictured, other than his green arms. The Once-ler causes the deforestation of the Truffula Trees and thus the disappearance of all the creatures in the forest. It is through his voice that we hear this tale of greed. It is also the Once-ler, however, who holds the key to redemption: at the end of the book, he hands his listener the last Truffula Tree seed, in the hopes that the forest will be planted again.

The title character is short, brown, old and bossy. He appears out of the stump of one of the trees the Once-ler has chopped down, demanding to know what goes on here. According to the Lorax, he “speaks for the trees, for the trees have no tongues.” So, while a literal manifestation—as befitting his very precise description—the Lorax is really the voice of environmental consciousness. Some suggest he may also represent the voice of the Once-ler’s conscience. Perhaps. Something obviously starts nibbling away at that unseen part of the barely-seen capitalist.

The young boy

A young boy ventures into the far part of town to listen to the Once-ler's story. As readers, we learn next to nothing about the boy himself, other than that he is curious enough to pay the price of fifteens cents, one nail and the shell of a very, very, very old snail. At the end of the tale, he is given the last remaining Truffula Tree seeds with the caution that he if can reforest the area, the Lorax may return.

Brown Bar-ba-loots

The Bar-ba-loots are small, brown, bear-like creatures who played in the shade and feasted upon the fruits of the Truffula Trees. The deforestation by the Once-ler, however, reduces the availability of their food supply, and they are encouraged by the Lorax to leave for their own survival.

Swomee-Swans

The Swomee-Swans are another species that once freely populated the Truffula Tree forest. Upon the expansion of the Once-ler's forest, the factory's smog fills their throats and they can no longer sing. The Lorax also sends them away to find somewhere with cleaner air.

Humming Fish

The Humming Fish once inhabited the clear waters of the pond near the Once-ler's business. Once the factory began polluting their pond, however, their gills became blocked-up and they lost the ability to hum. The Lorax sends them away.

The Lorax Questions and Answers

The Question and Answer section for The Lorax is a great resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel.

how is the thneed customers introduced in lorax

Lessons from The Lorax: Consumerism and Thneeds, Part II

Issue analysis framework: The Lorax

The issue is environmentalism, the cost of cutting down of trees, and Lorax's determination to speak for the trees because they cannot speak for themselves. The Lorax advocates for custodial guardianship, or taking responsibility for nature. This...

What is the significance of the name “Thneed”?

A Thneed represents the consumer goods that are marketed as necessary items, and thus produced at a frenzy at great cost to the environment.

Study Guide for The Lorax

The Lorax study guide contains a biography of Dr. Seuss, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

• About The Lorax
• The Lorax Summary
• Character List

Essays for The Lorax

The Lorax essays are academic essays for citation. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of The Lorax by Dr. Seuss.

• Form, Style, and the Individual in Judith Wright's Poetry and 'The Lorax'

Wikipedia Entries for The Lorax

• Introduction