On the apparent, Dr Seuss’s “The Lorax” is a cute children’s story about the conflict between a greedy, enterprising Once-ler who invades and destroysthe land of the pesky, but persistent Lorax. Although the Once- ler’s ambitionsare not slowed down by the Lorax’s protests, neither wins out in the end.
However, the story is more complex than one may see at first glance. The storyclearly exposes Dr. Seuss as a strong environmentalist intent on influencing hisyoung read ers’ views on the environment.
He cleverly makes a strongenvironmentalist point through the interaction between the Once-ler and theLorax, and suggests a powerful message to the young readers of this storythrough the boy, who at first seems to play a rather minor role in the story.Seuss clearly uses Once-ler to symbolize what he sees as the attitude ofbig business towards the environment and the damage that can be caused bythat attitude. Upon his arrival, Once-ler immediately sees opportunity in theland of the Truffula Tree. He quickly builds a successful business on the needs he produces in spite of the protests from the local ambassador for the area’s natural resources. He turns a deaf ear to the frequent protests of the Loraxeven when faced with evidence that his actions are causing harm to the localwildlife. Although he claims to care, he makes no changes in his behavior.Seuss uses Once- ler’s rea ctions to the Lorax to expose his own views on industry’s attitude toward the environment, “I the Once
-ler felt sad as I watchedthem all go, but business is business!
And Business must grow.” The Once
-ercontinues to chop the trees, failing to recognize the damage he is doing until, atlast, it is too late to do anything about it. Once-ler ironically goes on to destroythe one thing that made him rich. His business fails, and all that is left is a barren wasteland. The result is clearly Seuss’s