The Lorax
The Lorax is a children's book written by Dr. Seuss and published in 1971.[1] It chronicles the plight of the environment and the Lorax, the main character, who "speaks for the trees" and confronts the Once-ler, a business magnate who causes environmental destruction.
This article is about the book created by Dr. Seuss. For other uses, see Lorax (disambiguation).Author
Dr. Seuss
United States
English
1
June 18, 1971 (renewed 1999)
64
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The story is commonly recognized as a fable concerning the danger of greed causing human destruction of the natural environment, using the literary element of personification to create relatable characters for industry (the Once-ler), the environment (the Truffula trees) and environmental activism (the Lorax). The story encourages activism and involvement in making the situation better: a quote from the Lorax states, "Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not". The Lorax shows Dr Seuss’s views on climate change and pollution, teaching kids about how important it is to do our part to protect our environment or in this case truffula trees.
It was Dr. Seuss's personal favorite of his books. He was able to create an engaging story addressing industrial/economic and environmental issues. Dr. Seuss stated: "The Lorax came out of me being angry. The ecology books I'd read were dull...In The Lorax I was out to attack what I think are evil things and let the chips fall where they might".[2]
Plot[edit]
A boy living in a polluted area wanders down the Street of the Lifted Lorax and visits a reclusive figure known as the Once-ler. The boy pays the Once-ler fifteen cents,[a] a nail, and the shell of a great-great-great-grandfather snail to hear the story of how the Lorax was lifted away.
Many years ago, the Once-ler arrived in a beautiful valley teeming with Truffula Trees and a plethora of animals. Having long searched for such a tree as the Truffula, he chopped one down and used its foliage to create a highly versatile garment called a Thneed. A creature known as the Lorax emerged from the tree's stump and voiced his disapproval of the Once-ler's actions. Ignoring the Lorax, the Once-ler sold the Thneed for $3.98 and called upon his relatives to aid him in his new business.
The Once-ler's shop soon became a large factory, and new vehicles were built to log the Truffula forest and ship out Thneeds. As time passed, the valley was ravaged with pollution, and the Lorax had to send the animals away to find more hospitable habitats. The Once-ler showed no remorse and vowed to continue "biggering" his operations, until one of his machines felled the last Truffula Tree. With no more raw materials, the factory closed down, and the Once-ler's relatives deserted him. The Lorax vanished into the sky, leaving behind a pile of rocks bearing the word "UNLESS". From that point on, the Once-ler remained in isolation, pondering the Lorax's message.
After finishing his story, the Once-ler finally understands what the Lorax meant: unless somebody cares, the situation will not improve. He gives the boy the last Truffula seed and urges him to cultivate a new forest, hoping that the Lorax and the animals will return.
Inspiration[edit]
It is believed that a Monterey cypress in La Jolla, California was the inspiration for The Lorax. In June 2019, the tree was reported to have fallen.[3] Another likely inspiration was the relationship between the patas monkey and the whistling thorn acacia.[4][5][6]
Controversy[edit]
In 1988, a school district in California kept the book on a reading list for second-graders, though some in the town claimed the book was unfair to the logging industry.[10][11]
In the mid-1990s, Terri Birkett, a member of a family-owned hardwood flooring factory, authored Truax, a 20-page booklet illustrated by Orrin Lundren and published by the National Oak Flooring Manufacturers' Association (NOFMA).[12] Truax offers a logging-friendly perspective; as with like The Lorax, it consists of a conflict between two people: a logging industry representative who promotes efficiency and re-seeding efforts; and the Guardbark, an anthropomorphic tree who personifies the environmentalist movement. In Truax, the Guardback behaves like the Onceler, refusing to listen and lashing out; but in the end, he is convinced by the logger's arguments. Truax was criticized for what were viewed as skewed arguments and clear self-interest, particularly a "casual attitude toward endangered species" that answered the Guardbark's concern for them. The book's approach as a more blatant argument instead of one worked into a storyline was also noted.[13][14][15]
The line, "I hear things are just as bad up in Lake Erie," was removed more than fourteen years after the story was published after two research associates from the Ohio Sea Grant Program wrote to Seuss about the clean-up of Lake Erie.[16] The line remains in the home video releases of the television special, in the audiobook read by Rik Mayall, and in the UK edition published by HarperCollins Children's Books.