Environmental Science
September 5, 2012
The Lorax The Lorax, a famous book written by Dr. Seuss and published in 1972, was a controversial story, which was later made into a film, portraying a greedy corporate man who endangers the environment due to his selfish needs. Once reading or seeing the Lorax, one may make a connection to the Tragedy of the Commons, which is when individuals act on meeting their own needs while hurting limited resources. For example, in the Lorax the greedy corporate man, known as the Once-ler, discovers truffala trees, which he had seek for his entire life, and discovers that by chopping down these trees he can make thneeds, which are items that everyone needs, and make a profit. Once the Once-ler gets a taste of the money, he continues to harm the environment and continues to chop down trees without replacing them or thinking of the long term consequences. The Once-ler exploits the land so much that he destroys all of the truffula trees and this leads to all the animals: brown barbaloot bears, swomme swans and humming fish, migrating to land where potent water, clean air, and food was available. Dr. Seuss was very well known for the hidden symbols in all of his stories. In the Lorax, Dr. Seuss hides many signs that reflect current environmental issues. One of the many different symbols hidden in the Lorax is a truck that has a sign that states “Sanitation is Beautiful.” This ironic statement refers to today’s issue of major factories dumping and disposing of their wasted in clean, potent water. In the Lorax, Sanitation led to the humming fish leaving their habitat and searching for cleaner waters. A second hidden symbol in the Lorax is the “instant highway” truck. This connects to today’s issues, due to the fact that many roads are being made, but at the cost of the land. Since the land was completely destroyed, this led to the brown barbaloot bears migrating in order to find food. Lastly, one of the many symbols hidden