|
Horton
Hears a Who is the most recent in Dr. Seuss's collection
of illustrated, rhyming morality tales to be plucked from
adolescent bookshelves and thrust back into the limelight
with a little mainstream movie attention. As with Seuss's
previous works, Horton contains thinly veiled, politically-motivated
messages in yet another feeble attempt to subvert the minds
of young, young adults.
This
particular tale is portrayed by a troupe of exaggerated anthropomorphic
characters with curiously internationally inspired names and
humanistic personality traits. Horton opens as its
main character, an over-sized elephant, is pressured by the
representatives of a microscopic pink planet of dust (whom
he cannot see but can hear to the nth degree) to be the protector
of the planet and its inhabitants, known as the Whos. Followers
of Seuss will remember the Whos (of Who-Ville) from previous
works, including How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Horton,
naïve and no doubt frightened by the request, obliges, only
to find himself quickly ridiculed by his neighbor animals
for believing in something he and they cannot see. It is this
devastating turn that changes the pace of the novel and where
Seuss's fantastical jungle morphs into a violent menagerie.
In attempting
to the protect the planet, Horton is tormented by various
creatures including the Russian-inspired Vlad Vlad-i-koff,
a group of Wickersham brothers, a Sour Kangaroo, and her similarly
spirited offspring. The malicious group is relentless in various
attacks on Horton. Vlad, an eagle, swoops down to steal the
small planet from Horton's care and launches it into a sea
of clovers, which Horton painfully examines in yet another
rescue mission. Horton is subsequently berated by the Sour
Kangaroo, who repeatedly calls him a fool and later, as he
is still searching:
"Grab
him!" they shouted. "And cage the big dope! Lasso his
stomach with ten miles of rope! Tie the knots tight so
he'll never shake loose! Then dunk that dumb speck in
Beezle-Nut juice!"
While
Seuss transforms this request into a string of seemingly playful
rhyming lyrics, the thrust of hostility is overbearing in
consideration of Seuss's intended audience. Seuss continues,
"They beat him! They mauled him! They started him into his
cage!" a horrific sequence of events, illustrated somewhat
less graphically than the verbiage. The illustrations themselves
are somewhat sub-par though in line with Seuss's signature
brand of haphazardly sketched would-be animals. Characters
typically either vaguely resemble their realistic counterparts
(as Horton) or nothing at all (as the Wickersham gang); they
are prone to ride unicycles and to balance an enormity of
things upon their heads; they are rarely set in scale and
the environment seems of constantly alternating textures and
colors with no respect to how these animals, or Who-people,
must really live. And are we to believe the Whos have relocated
Who-ville, or that this minute planet is also inhabited by
the same mountainous regions described as the home of the
dreaded Grinch?
Horton
frequently tells the planet that "a person's a person, no
matter how small" in reference to their microscopic size,
but this also ignites a flame to readers who interpret the
phrase to be a pro-life endorsement. To that extent, Seuss
takes great liberties in what could be considered a political
experiment in attempting to shift his beliefs onto generations
of young people. It seems hard to miss the elephant as a metaphor
for the historically conservative Republican party on a rescue
mission against abortion.
Sadly,
what Seuss creates in Horton is misguided, at best.
The story of the elephant versus the society—both big
and small—takes a backseat to Seuss's abrasive social
commentary. The violent scenes depicted in Horton are
unnecessary to communicate the inevitably happy ending. It
is curious to know if Seuss is perhaps commenting on mental
illness or alluding to his own treatment in his notoriously
private life. Verbiage aside, Horton is hardly original and
readers are likely to be bored as the story creeps along in
less than 100 pages. Stick to The Berenstain Bears.
(April
1, 2008)
|
