The Lorax by Rebecca

The Lorax
Themes and Characters

___

By Rebecca

INTRODUCTION

The Lorax is a story, written by Dr. Seuss. This story was written to warn people about environmental problems that we could face in the future if we don’t take care of our world.

Themes

There are several important messages and themes in the Lorax. The first one is humankind and the natural world. The Once-ler tells the story of the trees to Ted, which describes the relationship between humans and the natural world. The story explains how money, power and fame can cloud humans decisions about the environment. The Once-ler started off as a young lad with big dreams for his future. He left his family to find the perfect material for his ‘thneed’. A thneed that could do the job of a thousand men. The Once-ler found a forest full of Truffula trees, perfect material for his thneed. The Once-ler cuts down the very first tree and little did he know the impact he was making and that he summoned a creature, the Lorax. The Lorax descends from the sky, claiming that he is the guardian of the forest and that he speaks for the trees. Because of what the Once-ler done, the Lorax tries to get the Once-ler to leave, by pranking him and almost killing him in the process. However, the Once-ler is determined to make his thneed, therefore the Lorax and the Once-ler make a compromise, that the Once-ler promises to never cut down another tree again. Nevertheless, the Once-ler breaks his promise as the fame and demand of his thneed becomes bigger. The Once-ler’s family also help to persuade the Once-ler to break his promise. Wanting to earn his family's respect, the Once-ler agreed to cutting down the trees. This hints at another theme of self-worth, as the Once-ler tries to prove himself to his family and wanting to please them. The Once-ler’s mother, Isabella, is very manipulative and money-crazy. When the Once-ler first started to harvest the Truffula trees, Isabella managed to manipulate the Once-ler into breaking his promise. Determined to earn his family’s respect, the Once-ler agrees and when the company becomes bigger, the Once-ler tries to tell himself that what he is doing not bad. The Lorax is almost in a way, the Once-ler’s conscience.

At the start, Ted first initially tries to find out what happened to the trees because Audrey always wanted one. When he first proposed this idea to his mother, she did not see the reason of a real tree. Just like the other people in Thneedville, they had been without trees for so long that it did not occur to them the real purpose of trees. Especially since they had big walls all around the city, so they could not actually see the real world that loomed around them. The townsfolk of Thneedville had been manipulated by Mr O’Hare by making them believe that they could buy air. Ted thens sets of to find the Once-ler who tells him the story of why they have no trees. Money, power and fame clouded the Once-ler decision making for the care of the environment. Because of the Once-ler’s actions, animals were forced to leave to the forest and the air was horribly polluted. No matter how many times the Lorax tried to persuade the Once-ler, he wouldn’t listen. It was only when they cut down the very last Truffula tree, that the Once-ler sees what the consequences of his actions were. When the Once-ler finishes telling the story to Ted, he gives him the last Truffula tree seed. At the start, Ted only wanted to find out because of a girl and his own selfish reasons, but as the movie progressed, Ted realised the importance of trees, and the difference he could make. At the end of the movie, Ted introduces himself to the townsfolk as ‘Ted Wiggins, and I speak for the trees’. This shows that Ted’s character progressed as he started out as a self-obsessed boy, to a boy that made a huge difference in the world.

Dr. Seuss in his book is trying to warn humankind that we must take care of the environment otherwise the consequences are fatal.

The Lorax

The Lorax is a friend to all nature, his introduction in the book is “I am the Lorax. I speak for the trees, I speak for the trees that have no tongues.” The Lorax has many characteristics, like his protective side towards all of the forest animals and trees.

1. As an example, when the Once-ler chopped down the very first Truffula, the Lorax was distraught. Because of this, the Lorax and the forest animals, placed rocks around the tree stump, like it was a memorial. The Lorax was very angry and irritated that the Once-ler was putting his needs and wants before the care of the environment.

2. When the Thneed business has ruined the forest, the Lorax sent away all of the forest animals for them to find a better place to live. This is showing that the Lorax is very protective over the forest animals.

3. Ultimately, as the movie came to it’s conclusion, the Lorax learns forgiveness. The Lorax once again descended from the sky, when the Once-ler came out of its house after many years to water the newly growing Truffula trees, the Lorax learnt to forgive the Once-ler for ruining the environment. Especially since the Once-ler redeemed himself by telling the story to Ted, which resolved in Ted carrying out the mission to save the trees.

The book of the Lorax is recognised as fictional story, concerning about the power of greed presents to nature. The Lorax was known as Dr. Seuss’ favourite story. Dr Seuss was able to write a story about environmental problems without the story being tedious. The story of the Lorax, is an excellent book to warn humans about the environment and trying to get a point across.