Allegory Not just the tip of the iceberg (or How Dr. Seuss Relates to Dante)

Definition of Allegory For a story to be an allegory, For a story to be an allegory, it must be appreciated on two levels. –The surface level (the story itself) –The abstract level (the underlying meaning)

The Surface Story Must be complete. Must be complete. Must be readable on its own as a story without underlying meaning. Must be readable on its own as a story without underlying meaning. Must have a beginning, middle, and end. Must have a beginning, middle, and end.

Dr. Seuss on the Surface The Sneetches The Sneetches –Sneetches are a race of odd creatures who live on a beach. Some Sneetches have a star on their bellies, and in the beginning of the story the presence or absence of a star is the basis for discrimination. Sneetches who have stars on their bellies are part of the "in crowd", while Sneetches without stars are shunned.

Dr. Seuss on the Surface The Butter Battle Book The Butter Battle Book –The Butter Battle Book tells the story of a land where two hostile cultures, the Yooks and the Zooks, live on opposite sides of a long curving wall. The Yooks wear blue clothes; the Zooks wear orange. The main dispute between the two cultures is that the Yooks eat their bread with the butter-side up, while the Zooks eat their bread with the butter-side down. The conflict between the two sides leads to a race to make bigger and better weapons to outdo the other.

Dr. Seuss on the Surface The Lorax The Lorax –When the Once-ler first arrived at this place, it was a beautiful, sunny forest full of Truffula Trees, colorful woolly trees spread throughout the area. The Once- ler built a small shop, where he chopped down a tree and knitted a Thneed, an odd-looking but versatile garment that he insisted "everyone needs." Out of the stump popped a strange little man called the Lorax, who claimed to "speak for the trees." Spurred by greed, the Once-ler invited all his relatives to town where they started a huge Thneed-making business, chopping down Truffula Trees left and right, much to the Lorax's distress.

The Abstract Level All characters, events, objects represent something beyond themselves, telling another, often more important story. All characters, events, objects represent something beyond themselves, telling another, often more important story.

Dr. Seuss Beyond the Text The Sneetches The Sneetches –Stars = racism and discrimination –Teaches the lesson that all people are the same on the inside, despite outward differences. –Geisel, a perfectionist and sensitive artist, almost scrapped the manuscript when he realized the story may wrongfully be taken as an allegory for anti- Semitism, and the stars on the birds' bellies might be taken as the six-cornered stars Jews were forced to wear in public under Hitler's rule in Nazi Germany.

Dr. Seuss Beyond the Text The Butter Battle Book The Butter Battle Book –Yooks and Zooks = Americans and Soviets in the Cold War –Von Itch = eastern European name –Slingshots and other weapons = Nuclear arms race –Bitsy Big Boy Boomeroo = Fat Man and Little Boy –Moo-kla-moo = plutonium –Yookeries = fall-out shelters –Glowing egg = radioactivity

Dr. Seuss Beyond the Text The Lorax The Lorax –Parallels events in the United States' Pacific Northwest at the time of its writing. –The Lorax = the Northern Spotted Owl, which inhabits the Douglas Fir and Coast Redwood forests –Brown Barbaloots = the shrews and voles which comprise most of the owl's diet. The vole eats mostly truffles which grow only among the roots of well- established Douglas Fir and Coast Redwood trees. –Research into this food chain was ongoing at the time The Lorax was written.

Setting Allegory does not become dated by the passage of years. Allegory does not become dated by the passage of years. An allegorical story can be applied to different times, people, or situations in the course of history. An allegorical story can be applied to different times, people, or situations in the course of history.

Apply Dr. Seuss to Today How can you apply the allegorical characters and events in any of Dr. Seuss’ stories to current events or people? How can you apply the allegorical characters and events in any of Dr. Seuss’ stories to current events or people?