THE LORAX

:''This article is about the Dr. Seuss children's story. For the robotics project, see LORAX (robot); for the drug see lorazepam.''
'''The Lorax''' is a children's story written by Dr. Seuss and first published in 1971. The tale chronicles the plight of the environment and the Lorax (a "mossy, bossy" man-like creature), who speaks for the trees against the greedy Once-ler. As in most of Dr. Seuss' works, most of the creatures mentioned are made-up for the book.
The book is commonly recognized as a parable concerning industrialized society, using the literary element of personification to give life to industry as the Once-ler (whose face is never shown in all of the story's illustrations) and to the environment as the Lorax.
The book can also be seen as an allegory, since the situation in the story is specifically parallel to events unfolding in the United States' Pacific Northwest at the time of its writing. In particular, the title character bears a close resemblance to the Northern Spotted Owl, an indicator species for the health of the Douglas Fir and Coast Redwood forests, and the Brown Barbaloots resemble the shrews and voles of that forest which comprise most of the owl's diet. In the story, the Lorax is "in charge of" the Brown Barbaloots. In its forest habitat, the owl regulates the population of the shrews and voles by its predation. The particular vole which the owl eats subsists mostly on 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.

Contents

Synopsis

References in popular culture

Controversy

Adaptations

Publication

See also

References

Synopsis

A boy comes to a dark, desolate corner of town called "the Street of the Lifted Lorax," to learn who the Lorax was and how he got "lifted and taken away." Through a "whisper-ma-phone," the Once-ler tells the boy what happened. When the Once-ler first arrived at this place, it was a beautiful, sunny forest where the Swomee-Swans sang, the Humming-Fish hummed, and the Brown Bar-ba-loots played in the shade while eating the fruit of the Truffula Trees, colorful woolly trees spread throughout the area. Enchanted by these gorgeous trees, 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." The Lorax first scoffed at the Once-ler's creation, until someone came along and bought it. 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 skies gradually got darker and more polluted, forcing the Lorax to send the Bar-ba-loots, the swans, and the fish off in search of a better place to live. The Once-ler, while upset to see the animals go, dismissed the Lorax's pleadings until the last Truffula Tree got chopped down, leaving the Once-ler alone with the Lorax and a failed business in a desolate place under a dark smoggy sky. With a "sad backward glance," the Lorax picked himself up by the "seat of his pants" and floated away through a hole in the smog. At the end of the story, the Once-ler reveals that he has one last Truffula seed left, and instructs the boy to start a new forest so that "the Lorax and all of his friends may come back."

References in popular culture

★ The "Lorax" has become a popular metaphor for those concerned about the human impact on the environment. The book is featured on the inside layout of Rage Against the Machine's Evil Empire LP.^[1] The Lorax is also referenced in activist musician Michael Franti's song 'East To The West' on the album "Yell Fire" ^[2]

★ Lorax Manner (not Manor) is the name of a student housing cooperative in Eugene, Oregon. ^[3]

★ The 'Springfield Millionaire's Club' in the Simpsons is mentioned as serving 'Premium Lorax Steak' along with other rare foods such as Bluefin Tuna.

★ In Aaron McGruder's television series, The Boondocks, the cold business man's name is Ed Wuncler, Sr., which may be taken from The Lorax character, the Once-ler.

★ The Lorax was referenced in Sermon #137 on TheGospelAccordingToLarry.com and the book The Gospel According to Larry by Janet Tashjian

★ Chicago-based punk band The Broadways wrote a song called "I Hear Things Are Just As Bad Down In Lake Erie" (the title almost a direct quote from a line in the book) for their album Broken Star. The song is a bitter editorial on the environment, industry and people's attitude to each other in spite of the two.

Controversy

''The Lorax'' is arguably Seuss' most controversial work, having been banned in some schools and libraries for its anti-forestry industry content.^[4] Several timber industry groups sponsored the creation of a book called ''The Truax'', ^[5] offering a logging-friendly perspective to an anthropomorphic tree known as the ''Guardbark''. Just as in ''The Lorax'', the book consists of an argument between two persons. The logging industry representative emphasises their efficiency and re-seeding efforts whereas the Guardbark, a straw man of the environmentalist movement much like the Once-ler is for big business, refuses to listen and repeatedly lashes out.
The line "I hear things are just as bad up in Lake Erie" was removed in 1974 following the clean-up of Lake Erie.^[6]

Adaptations

The book was made into an animated television special in 1972, produced by DePatie-Freleng Enterprises and starring Eddie Albert and Bob Holt. The line about Lake Erie was spoken by one of the humming fish as they marched out of the river at the foot of the Once-ler's factory.

Publication

★ ISBN 000195458X (cased)

★ ISBN 000170012X (paperback)

★ ISBN 0394823370 (Random House)

★ ISBN 0007173113 (paperback)

See also

★ ''The Man Who Planted Trees'', a book about a man who singlehandedly does the same kind of task the boy was asked to do, and succeeds.

References

1. http://www.ratm.com/
2. http://yellfire.net/
3. http://gladstone.uoregon.edu/~asuosch/lorax.php
4. http://library.dixie.edu/new/whybanned.html#TheLorax
5. http://www.nofma.org/Portals/0/Publications/TRUAX.pdf
6. http://www.glhabitat.org/news/glnews450.html