"Now all that was left 'neath the bad smelling sky was my big empty factory.. the Lorax....and I."
"UNLESS someone like you cares a whole awful lot (about the environment/conservation), nothing is going to get better. It's not. "
The Lorax is a children's picture book written by
Dr.Suess. It emphasizes on the importance of conservation and environment. The Lorax is about an figurative environmentalist that speaks for the trees, birds, fishes and the bears. The Once-ler corrupted with greed ignored the warnings of the Lorax and eventually destroyed the environment. The story encourages us to consider message of conservation. The Once-ler had the last hope, a seed. However, if we chopped down every tree and nothing is left, not even a seed, then we are doomed. This shows conservation is very important and we should start now to increase sustainability of our future. Conservation and environment is worth fighting for.
Environment is a key to our future, therefore worth fighting for. Looking at dystopian societies in class, I realized that one of the main characteristic of dystopian societies are the lack of environment. In
The Knife of Never Letting Go, Todd's (The main protagonist) society seems to avoid the swamp, leading to Todd's inferring of men don't go to swamps. Other dystopian societies also lack environment.
Woolvs in the Sitee, mentions how the protagonist (Ben) "longs for the bloo skys...nothing is rite." Something must have happened in Ben's and Todd's society that lead to the environment disappearance. We can prevent dystopias turning into reality by being more global aware.
Besides Dr. Suess' Lorax, there are some other authors who use picture books to send out the message of why conservation is worth fighting for.
The Waterhole by Graeme Base is about some animals drinking at a waterhole. As you flip the pages, the waterhole gets smaller and smaller. On the last page, when the waterhole is completely empty and dry, there are 10 extinct animals on it. Another book by Graeme Base called
Uno's Garden is similar to The Lorax. The protagonist, Uno, discovers a paradise and invites everyone to live with him. As the buildings increased, the wildlife and environment decreases. The last book, called
Where the Forest Meets the Sea by Jeannie Baker, gives the reader a sense of dystopia. The protagonist walks through an inhabited island and visualize how it might look in the future, overridden by tourists.
Looking carefully at the Lorax, I found out that the Once-ler may be a representative word for chancellor. I connected this with Germany during World War II. The Once-ler was driven mad with greed like
Adolf Hitler (The Chancellor of Germany during WWII) was driven mad with power and racist views, as well as over patriotism. Once-ler ignored the warnings of the Lorax and left the Lorax powerless to do anything. Hitler oppressed and sent up standers to concentration camps which are basically death camps. Another comparison of the Once-ler and Hitler is the fact that they both use advertisement/propaganda. Once-ler had slogans while Hitler had propaganda.
Conservation is vital for sustainability. Without conservation, there is no sustainability and no environment. The world would face a dramatic change that may lead to a dystopian future. In order to prevent it from happening, we have to start being eco-friendly. The Lorax and other stories are trying to give us the message of conservation, however, some children might not understand the message given. When we look back, we found that there are lots of picture books with moral meanings. One moral meaning in the Lorax besides conservation, is not to be overwhelmed with greed. Once-ler was a perfect example for that. The Lorax is inspirational because authors are trying to fight for the environment through books and we should listen to their message and start conserving.
