Book Club
By Elena Black
Hello dear Slytherins!
I'm back from my abrupt vacation and am here to share another book with you all! This month, I am going to focus on a book that is primarily for young children. However, many adults have come to know and love the book, as well as the many others the same author has written over the years.
Allow me to introduce to you all How the Grinch Stole Christmas, written by yours truly, Dr. Seuss.
First, a summary for those who may not know of the story.
How the Grinch Stole Christmas is about a green monster whom is our 'Grinch'. He lives at the top of Mount Crumpit, which overlooks the town of Whoville. Save for his faithful pet dog, Max, the Grinch has been alone for years. Because of this, his attitude towards almost anything and anyone else is incredibly bitter. On Christmas, though, the Grinch is at his worst possible mindset.
One year, he finally snaps and decides to 'get rid' of Christmas.
Now obviously, he was without the same type of magic we have. So, as one can guess, he did have to resort the old fashioned way, by stealing.
The twist of this story ... is what I will keep a secret for now, as well as the ending.
Truthfully, I find the author to be just as intriguing as his books, if not a bit more so. Let me shine some light.
Dr. Seuss's full name is Theodore Seuss Geisel. He was born on March 2, 1904, and passed away on September 24, 1991. Despite his surname sounding German, he was actually an American writer.
Now, here's the catch with this man.
What I find so interesting about him is despite Dr. Seuss being one of the most popular author of childrens' books, he was quite the political writer. Dr. Seuss was actually a very liberal Democrat, and he very proudly displayed this in many of his books. A good number of his works actually had many undertones and discreet messages.
There is actually one included in How the Grinch Stole Christmas, believe it or not!
I won't label which issues are included in which books; however, here is a small list of the number of matters he has dared to address.
Dr. Seuss has voluntarily written about environmentalism and anti-consumerism, racial equality, the arms race, Hitler and anti-authoritarianism, criticized the materialism and consumerism of Christmas, and even mentioned anti-isolationism and internationalism.
Pretty eye-opening, huh?
He wrote children's books, yet included those sorts of messages about such dire, political problems?
It makes one - well, me for certain - wonder how exactly he became so popular. Ignorance is an easy excuse to use, no doubt. Maybe he truly was that good at being subtle. Simultaneously, there is a good chance that we - the readers, that is to say - failed to find his message. I say this not to insult us, but to inform us.
You see, it is well-known - should you do your research and look it up, that is - that Dr. Seuss wrote all of these books with full intentions on getting his message across.
Alternatively, it is very possible that because of the primary audience, he may have made an effort to keep his words coded yet in plain sight.
All the same, I'm merely stating facts. Furthermore, I'm not attempting to cause anyone to dislike this man. In fact, I actually am impressed with him. It takes immense courage to write about politics at all. So to see someone go so far as to add these morales into children's books?
This, to me, is a whole new level of Gryffindor-esque courage.
I, personally, honor and commemorate this man rather than choose to scorn him like many may end up doing the moment they realize what all he has written about.
Kudos to you, Dr. Seuss!
I hope you all enjoyed this article. May the upcoming holidays be good for you all!
Until next time,
Elena Black