A creature pops out of the tree-stump, and says,
“I am the Lorax. I speak for the trees.
I speak for the trees for the trees have no tongues…”
The Once-ler explains that he chopped only one tree, and that this thing is a Thneed.
“…a Fine-Something That- All- People- Need.
…It’s a shirt. It’s a sock. It’s a glove. It’s a hat.
But it has other uses. Yes, far beyond that.”
From Dr. Seuss’s illustration of the Thneed, an irregularly shaped material, and its description that it can be used for so many things, we get the idea that the Thneed isn’t particularly good for anything.
The Lorax tells him nobody would buy such a thing, but then a man comes along and buys one, and the Once-ler says,
“You poor stupid guy!
You never can tell what some people will buy.”
Incidentally, I think Dr. Seuss is giving us good business advice here. We never know what people will go for. If you think of a new invention, or a new business idea, don’t give up on it because you decide nobody would be interested – not until you do some market research.
The Once-ler calls his relatives to come help him with his get-rich-quick scheme. Business booms, a factory is built, and many Truffula trees are cut down. That causes the Brown-Bar-ba-loots to starve, so the Lorax sends them away to find food elsewhere.
The Once-ler continues growing his business, and his factory is now polluting the air and the water.
In a last desperate effort to save the environment, the Lorax appeals to the Once-ler – an appeal that tugs at the reader’s heartstrings. The Lorax tells the Once-ler that the Swomee-Swans will have to leave due to the air pollution and the Humming-Fish will have to leave because of the water pollution.
“My poor Swomee Swans…why, they can’t sing a note!
No one can sing who has smog in his throat.”
The Once-ler insists he has his rights, and says he will continue to grow his business.
Just then, the last Truffula Tree falls. With no more Truffula Trees, there is no more business. His relatives leave, and the Once-ler is now alone in this deserted toxic wasteland.
Not surprisingly, The Lorax became associated with the environmental movement. Often a story with emotional appeal has a greater impact than dry statistics. Aside from its obvious wake-up call to protect the environment, The Lorax raises some difficult dilemmas: Should business activity be restricted to save the environment? Should our consumption be restricted? For example, the number of paper goods we use. Beyond this, do we have a right to market useless products just because people are willing to buy them?
The Once-ler was shortsighted. He should have realized if he didn’t plant more Truffula Trees his business wouldn’t last. Could the Once-ler have planted enough trees to sustain his business and preserve the environment as well?
Similarly, a number of Dr. Seuss’s other books leave us thinking.
* * * * *
Theodor Seuss Geisel was born in 1904 in Springfield, Massachusetts. He attended Dartmouth College and was editor-in-chief of Dartmouth’s humor magazine Jack O Lantern. He was a cartoonist for the Sunday Evening Post, and for fifteen years he created advertising campaigns for Standard Oil.
During WWII he created over 400 political cartoons for PM Magazine, including cartoons protesting Germany’s treatment of the Jews.
Dr. Seuss wrote over sixty children’s books and they have been translated into more than twenty languages, and sold over 600 million copies. Most of his books were written under the name Dr. Seuss, and these are the books he illustrated himself. He also wrote some other children’s books under the pseudonym Theo LeSieg – Geisel spelled backward – and one book under the name Rosetta Stone in collaboration Michael Frith. Various people illustrated these other books.