Abstract
This essay argues that Dr. Seuss’s The Lorax (1971) successfully popularized the environmental message that Wallace Stegner presented in his largely forgotten essay “Conservation Equals Survival” (1969). The Seussian language and illustrations have inspired readers, particularly children, to consider and, more importantly, to engage in environmentally sustainable practices. Both Seuss and Stegner wanted to raise the common readers’ ecological literacy by alerting them to the dangers posed by modern industrial society and their role in achieving solutions. However, Stegner’s essay quickly disappeared from the public consciousness, while Seuss’s story remains relevant more than 40 years later, and his character, the Lorax, has become an important part of the environmentalist vernacular. Of particular interest is both authors’ use of one word, “unless,” to direct individual readers to work together for a sustainable future. Seuss successfully engaged readers to become aware of the needs of the environment and take personal responsibility in caring for their own ecosystems.
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Notes
Ausubel et al. (1995, p. 2) explain: “In the minds of many 1970 marked the birth of the modern environmental movement.” A 1971 report commissioned by the Council on Environmental Quality, titled The Quiet Revolution in State Land Use Planning, promotes environmental activism and improved land development policy by state governments, proclaiming, “This country is in the midst of a revolution in the way we regulate the use of our land. It is a peaceful revolution, conducted entirely within the law” (Bosselman and Callies, 1971, p. 1). In 1972 Donald N. Baldwin published The Quiet Revolution: Grass Roots of Today’s Wilderness Preservation Movement. In “Conservation Equals Survival,” Stegner praised the precursor to these “quiet” revolutions, Stewart L. Udall’s 1963 book The Quiet Crisis.
Stegner, recipient of the 1972 Pulitzer Prize for his novel Angle of Repose, is respected in environmental circles for his “forty years of muscular conservationist writing and advocacy” (LaDow, 2002, p. 67). “Conservation Equals Survival” appeared in American Heritage’s December 1969 issue.
At the writers’ conference, Seuss lectured on the state of children’s literature, defended children’s abilities and imaginations, and criticized racism in America (Cohen, 2004). During one evening, Seuss drew amusing sketches to divert the attention of Stegner and Vladimir Nabokov when their sons, Page and Dmitri, stayed out past curfew. “Forty years later as a university professor, Page Stegner kept the drawing framed on his wall” (Morgan et al., 1995, p. 125).
Stegner, dubbed the dean of Western writers, was 62 years old in 1971. Some might object to my linking Stegner to the “sharpish and bossy” Lorax, whom Ross (1996) and Abate (2010) argue makes poor rhetorical choices and fails to persuade his audience. However, I posit that the story presents the Lorax as wise and influential, aiding the Once-ler’s newfound respect for the natural world, which he communicates to the young boy.
This “individualization of responsibility” concerns Maniates (2001, p. 33), who fears it encourages people to see themselves “as consumers first and citizens second.” However, I believe Seuss’s books equate the importance of individual validation and the common good.
For example, Elizabeth MacLeod’s 1999 book Grow it Again: Kids Can Do It acts as a follow-up text to The Lorax as it “brings nature indoors with circle-of-life lessons—growing a garden from kitchen leftovers” (Laso, 1999, par. 9). In addition, The Lorax continues to be a powerful brand. For example, the American Forests’s 1997 campaign “Be a Lorax Helper—Help Build the Dr. Seuss Lorax Forest” and the American Red Cross’s 2013 campaign “Operation Lorax” involves children and their parents in important tree restoration projects. In the last half-decade, dozens of interactive websites like “The Lorax Project” and “The Lorax Lesson Plans” have appeared to offer fun, child-centered activities in the home and the classroom. Just before he died, Seuss penned one last plea for action: “‘We can … and we’ve got to … do better than this’” (Morgan et al., 1995, p. 287). Heeding the call, Tish Rabe’s 2012 children’s book How to Help the Earth—by the Lorax revives Seuss’s character.
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Matthew Teorey earned his Ph.D. at the University of New Mexico and teaches English at Peninsula College in Port Angeles, Washington. He is interested in how children’s literature attempts to teach young readers about important issues like environmental sustainability and respect for other cultures. His essay “Untangling Barbed Wire Attitudes: Internment Literature for Young Adults” was published in Children’s Literature Association Quarterly in 2008.
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Teorey, M. The Lorax and Wallace Stegner: Inspiring Children’s Environmental Activism. Child Lit Educ 45, 324–339 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10583-014-9222-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10583-014-9222-2