Talk:The Lorax

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This article was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment, between 3 September 2020 and 16 December 2020. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): Jcuhrinek.

Above undated message substituted from Template:Dashboard.wikiedu.org assignment by PrimeBOT (talk) 11:06, 17 January 2022 (UTC)

Plot and Intention Dr. Seuss

I read a link to neoclassical economics in a better way this time becuase i feel its important to connect it to the larger issues dr seuss was trying to raise awareness of. same thing with the idea that it is more than a sad story about nature. theres precedence in seuss books, look at the butter battle book.

so ive been thinking about all of the oncelers relatives leaving as a human population crash, because they wouldnt just leave their good relative. or a combination of that and how greed and corruption ruins families in society. same things for the 'migrations' of animals, some are seen so sick that they arent able to walk, mass die off. ill find a way to add it at a later date

-Bob

Do you think that grickle grass is invasive? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by BobbyPowers (talk • contribs) 19:39, 24 February 2005 (UTC).

Bob, the article can mention that The Lorax is regarded as a parable about industrial destruction of the environment, because that goes beyond any one editor's point of view. Personal speculations outside the text, though, are original research and don't belong in the article.

Regarding the "neoclassical economics" mention, it seems to imply (1) that classical economics, which dominated the 18th and 19th centuries, was less inclined to environmental destruction (2) that the US moved quickly to protect the environment between the 1920s and 1960s, when classical economics was out of fashion. I don't think either is correct. The book is about commercial industry destroying the environment generally, and singling out destruction that is allegedly caused by "neoclassical economics" strikes me as POV.

Aside from that, I welcome your contributions. Gazpacho 05:29, 28 Feb 2005 (UTC)

Lake Erie?

The article currently sttes at the end that Seuss had the book changed after publication to remove the line, "I hear things are just as bad up at Lake Erie!" Yet a Google search for this [1] gets only one hit other than this article, and that hit isn't a credible source. Could someone please find information to back up this claim? --LostLeviathan 22:02, 28 October 2005 (UTC)

True, and good point, but that is if one only searches the full text of the string. Another search, [2] ("The Lorax" "Lake Erie") brings up 980 results, including some pretty credible results, I'd say.

From T.E.A.C.H. (which got the text from The Late, Great Lakes, by William Ashworth, Alfred A. Knoph, Inc. (pg. 133), 1988.):

"The demise of Lake Erie even made it into a Dr. Seuss book, The Lorax."

With a slight misspelling of "hear" (spelled "here"), we get Thinkquest's page entitled Why he wrote The Lorax. Along with many others on the subject (as I said, 980 of them). I agree that just entering the string looks misleading, but one has to remember that differing variations on the wording, as well as only references can be made. Thank you for your concern, however.--[[User:Mysekurity|Mysekurity]] ^{[[additions | e-mail]]} _{05:26, 29 October 2005 (UTC)}

• • Thank you very much. --LostLeviathan 22:17, 29 October 2005 (UTC)

--"The Lorax has the distinction of being the only book that Seuss himself ever changed after publication, by removing the Lorax's line, "I hear things are just as bad up at Lake Erie!" which he found to be out of place in his fantasy work, as it refered to a real world place."

Is this correct? He didn't remove a reference to Weehawken, a real world town in New Jersey bordering NYC.--

Yeah, but lots of people who aren't from the area have heard of Lake Erie. Weehawken sounds very Seuss-ish, and if you're not from the area, you probably haven't heard of it. Besides, it only states that it's memorable because it was changed, it doesn't state that it was the only reference to a real world place. Ehurtley 02:59, 7 April 2006 (UTC)

I don't understand why it uses the word "reason" when it talks about the Truax...I feel reason makes it seem like it would be reasonble to support unsustainable logging...I'm considering changing to to read more clearly the point of the Truax...logging companies attempting to make unsustainable logging look like a reasonable thing to do. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Aerros (talk • contribs) 04:05, 20 December 2006 (UTC).

Just great. the article in its current state doesn't mention Lake Erie untill the trivia section:

“ The book was made into an animated television special in 1972, produced by DePatie-Freleng Enterprises. 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. ”

That being the first appearance of Lake Erie, it makes no sense at all! It makes even less sense to have to come to the discussion page to find out what the line was. Propose fixes? --200.44.6.104 04:17, 20 January 2007 (UTC)

I am removing the part about the line being omitted from later releases, as my copy of The Lorax, purchased in 2011, still contains the line. Additionally, the only articles I can find on Google that would back this claim up reference this page as their source. --Eldritch2k4 (talk) 12:25, 18 September 2012 (UTC)

Despite your research to the contrary, the info is well sourced. FWIW (which isn't much), my niece's copy (circa 2004) does not mention Lake Erie. - SummerPhD (talk) 14:41, 18 September 2012 (UTC)

I have also just bought a copy of the book and the line about Lake Erie is in there. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2.96.106.50 (talk) 05:34, 29 July 2013 (UTC)

Summary

Isn't the article's plot description kind of adult for a children's book? ("...his business was destroying the Truffula ecosystem, causing mass migrations of native fauna...") Yes, I realize that the book has a not-too-subtle political message (I'm doing a paper on it right now), but I would think the article could describe the plot in simpler terms, and point out its environmental themes in a separate section.—The preceding unsigned comment was added by Marbehraglaim (talk • contribs) 15:40, 25 April 2006.

The Book is for children but the article is for Adults. It is alos funny when one uses such fancy words for a children's book. The article can be facy aslong as it still is legible. (What good is it to use words only you know withouth a link to the meaning). All complicated concepts have thier own page and facy workds can have an Interwiki link such as [[wikt:word]]--E-Bod 20:57, 25 April 2006 (UTC)

I'm not saying the article shouldn't have a discussion about the environental implications of the book. Of course it should. The problem is that it fails to distinguish the story description from the story interpretation. Both belong in the article, but separately. Someone who's never read the book and reads the article is likely to think that the story is actually about ecosystems and native fauna, when in fact those terms never show up anywhere in the book, and it would be inconceivable that they would. The article fails to give a sense that on its most literal level, The Lorax is simply a delightful tale that takes place in an imaginary world populated by weirdly named creatures and colorful woolly trees. And for most of us, the book can still be enjoyed on that level. In neglecting that fact, the article sounds oddly unprofessional. It would be like describing The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe as a story about Jesus. That's certainly what C.S. Lewis intended the book to represent, but on a basic level it's just a fantasy, and to ignore that fact is to overlook the main reason why the book appeals to more than just a Christian audience, just as The Lorax appeals to more than just environmental activists. marbeh raglaim

I have changed the page. I wrote my own summary of the book, and I condensed the old summary and made it a separate section called "Interpretation." If you have any objections, we can discuss them. marbeh raglaim 09:20, 8 May 2006 (UTC)

While the Interpretation section has some interesting information, it mostly seems like Original Research. Any way to get some citations, or maybe a published review that states these same ideas? Pnkrockr 18:00, 22 September 2006 (UTC)

I think the insights of the Interpretation section, while well-written, are fairly obvious to anyone who's read the book. Do you know anyone who would disagree with the claims in this section? marbeh raglaim 18:50, 22 September 2006 (UTC)

It's not a matter of anyone disagreeing, but just that everything needs to be cited. Pnkrockr 20:01, 22 September 2006 (UTC)

Memorable Quotes

There was some sort of random SAD SACK quote with an address for a blog that I removed. As far as I could tell, it had nothing to do with The Lorax. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 216.82.180.22 (talk) 16:41, 22 January 2008 (UTC)

Lost Reference (dead link)

Source 2 (most likely the one meant for "The Truax", as it points to an appropriate PDF) is a dead reference link. Trying on both my desktop and laptop turns up no PDF at the end. It has either been pulled or moved. Not sure what Wikipedia's standards are on such cases (Wikifur Editor, sorry). Somebody with a little more experience feel like throwing a starving collegiate wol... erm, student a bone? --Copb.phoenix (talk) 08:14, 1 October 2009 (UTC)

[Untitled comment-section]

hi i did a reaserach about the enviorment! at its a pretty darn good book:) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 96.250.160.241 (talk) 19:43, 3 April 2010 (UTC)

Correction

Resolved

In the section FLASHBACK, it states that the Oncelers were making "Sneeds." This is incorrect. They were making "Thneeds." — Preceding unsigned comment added by 173.77.207.249 (talk) 02:22, 12 June 2011 (UTC)

It was vandalized yesterday. I've reverted it. - SummerPhD (talk) 02:58, 12 June 2011 (UTC)

Lot of Vandalism

There is a lot of vandalism, check the history page. Maybe that last edit by 67.236.19.249 should also be undone. --82.171.13.139 (talk) 13:54, 28 February 2012 (UTC)

Green Energy

Through the use of turbines, we can collect the excess energy of Dr. Seuss spinning in his grave and turn it into electricity! It's really the best way to generate green energy that I've ever heard. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.18.237.126 (talk) 21:28, 6 March 2012 (UTC)

   While the snarky and off-(the literary-)topic nature of the talk-contribution on which i am commenting may have caught my eye bcz of its tone, and the axe that it may be out to grind, the relevant criterion behind my moving it away from the head of the page is that WP article talk is not a listserv, and that the gyps-who-pass-in-the-night on a talk page don't deserve any more protection from having the prominence of their voices kept appropriate (new topics after old, and responses to comments after the comment responded to) than do the non-ym ous members of this community.
--Jerzy•t 15:29, 28 July 2018 (UTC)

The Conservative Lorax on CollegeHumor

http://www.collegehumor.com/video/6804067/the-conservative-lorax — Preceding unsigned comment added by 213.142.161.30 (talk) 17:24, 6 October 2012 (UTC)

Identity of the boy?

• When I read the book, I thought that the boy was meant to be "you", i.e. whoever was reading the book. Anthony Appleyard (talk) 22:43, 12 April 2015 (UTC)

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Connection with El Paso mass shooting

In the purported "manifesto" of the mass shooter in So Paso, the book is stated as at least part of his motivation

“The American lifestyle affords our citizens an incredible quality of life. However, our lifestyle is destroying the environment of our country. The decimation of the environment is creating a massive burden for future generations. Corporations are heading the destruction of our environment by shamelessly overharvesting resources. This has been a problem for decades. For example, this phenomenon is brilliantly portrayed in the decades old classic “The Lorax”. Water sheds around the country, especially in agricultural areas, are being depleted. Fresh water is being polluted from farming and oil drilling operations. Consumer culture is creating thousands of tons of unnecessary plastic waste and electronic waste, and recycling to help slow this down is almost non-existent. Urban sprawl creates inefficient cities which unnecessarily destroys millions of acres of land. We even use god knows how many trees worth of paper towels just wipe water off our hands. Everything I have seen and heard in my short life has led me to believe that the average American isn’t willing to change their lifestyle, even if the changes only cause a slight inconvenience. The government is unwilling to tackle these issues beyond empty promises since they are owned by corporations. Corporations that also like immigration because more people means a bigger market for their products. I just want to say that I love the people of this country, but god damn most of y’all are just too stubborn to change your lifestyle. So the next logical step is to decrease the number of people in America using resources. If we can get rid of enough

people, then our way of life can become more sustainable.”

StreamingRadioGuide (talk) 13:35, 5 August 2019 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 11 June 2023

-In musical section, “…but was cut before the show opened sadly enough.” remove the phrase sadly enough, opinionated and unprofessional term. -Also in musical section, “The gender role was reversed. The book has a boy, the musical cast a girl…” should be completely revised. The two sentences should be converted to one and the beginning of the sentence should make it clear what role was gender-swapped instead of stating this at the end. I.e.: “In the production, the role of the boy who receives the last seed was changed to a girl.” 71.214.134.32 (talk) 18:02, 11 June 2023 (UTC)

 Done Actualcpscm (talk) 19:04, 11 June 2023 (UTC)