But, upon telling his story to a young boy who wants to plant a tree, The Once-ler reaches this conclusion: The Once-ler ponders this word for years, unsure of what it means, saddened by what he has done to the world around him. The Lorax returns to the now-barren land for what appears to be the last time and leaves The Once-ler with a stone, the inscription upon it reading the simple word: “Unless”. By then, it is nearly too late to repair the damage. It isn’t until the final tree is gone that The Once-ler finally realizes the toll his actions have taken on the world around him. As the trees deplete, the air becomes thick with pollution, the water becomes unsafe for the fish to live in and the precious Barbaloot Bears are driven from their homes, sick and distraught. However, once the nearby townspeople embrace the Thneed as their latest “must-have”, The Once-ler breaks his word to The Lorax and begins chopping down trees at an inconceivable rate, paying no mind to the devastation his quest for profit and fortune causes to those around him. The Once-ler agrees to not cut down any more trees and focuses on the sale of his single Thneed. The Lorax confronts The Once-ler and pleads for the well-being of the forest and its wildlife residents. It is at the destruction of this first Truffula tree that, grief-stricken and angry, The Lorax appears. But when the desire for fame, wealth and success overwhelm him, he cuts down a Truffula tree and uses it’s tuft to create the first Thneed. The Once-ler is able to recognize, briefly, the beauty of the forest, and he befriends all of its adorable creatures.
Until he comes upon a forest of Truffula trees… The Once-ler has dreamed up a “Thneed”: a combination cleaning cloth, hat, shirt, scarf thing-a-ma-jig, but has had no way of producing it, unable to find a material that will suit all of his requirements. And with a certain sadness, great excitement and a renewal of certain dreams, I left the theater reenlightened by all The Lorax had taught me years ago… and has taught me, again, now.Īt the heart of The Lorax is The Once-ler, a man who, seeking success and purpose in his life, sets out to build a most-remarkable invention. This weekend I made my way to the movies. But when the Lorax’s face greeted me on the side of a bus in San Francisco a couple months back, I found myself eager to see the film, the child inside wanting me to be reminded of why the story’d meant so much. My absolute favorite book as a child, I must admit that the tale had become buried in the back of my mind for quite some time. Perhaps the most important Seuss moral of them all, one which shows the foresight of this man beyond his years, is found in The Lorax. Though rhyming, colorful, elementary and humorous, Seuss’s work has a meaning beyond the fun and folly. A more novel idea, that of trying something out before you decide you don’t like it, winds through the pages of Green Eggs N Ham (without this lesson, I’m not sure I’d be aware that I like eel or the misleadingly named “Sweetbreads”). The story of The Sneeches depicts a fight against prejudice and labeling. This may just be an innate something-I-was-born-with… or maybe we should blame the elephant and his speck of dust. Killing anything (or causing anything intentional pain), no matter what it may be, has always seemed so terrible to me. To this day, (though most find me ridiculous), I can be seen carrying the occasional insect outside in a glass, placing it gently on the porch or in the garden, rather than hearing that dreadful “crunch” under a shoe or paper towel. The amply familiar Horton Hears a Who?, for example, teaches a deep respect for life, no matter how small or different than our own.
Seuss.Ī child of the 80’s, I grew up on Seuss’s books… absorbing Seuss’s lessons. If you are looking for a lesson, or two… There ‘s no greater teacher than the great Dr.
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