I’ve got to do a twenty page paper for my college lit course relating the current reading material to current events and placing it as a solidly post-modern piece of literature.
I’m usually really good at this type of thing, but I’m confused this time. The book was very complex and I’m hoping that maybe some of your ideas will help me come up with an insightful thesis statement.
Please, sincere answers, I’m struggling. The book is:
Red Fish, Blue Fish, One Fish, Two Fish by Dr. Seuss
..
I’ll admit to some suspicion here. Surely this is a joke. But, you’ve baited the hook and I’ll bite. (**Warning! Terrible Pun!**)
“Say! what a lot
of fish there are.”
Overfishing the seas, the fact that the size of an average lobster is now something like 1kg instead of the massive ones that used to be pulled in, etc. No. of marine species that are endangered or extinct.
“Some are thin.
And some are fat.
The fat one has
a yellow hat.
From there to here,
from here to there,
funny things
are everywhere.”
Well, when you hear of someone laughing at a fat fish, who DOESN’T think of the obesity epidemic and social attitudes toward excessive weight? As an Aussie, since I only heard yesterday that we’re now the fattest nation in the world, I resent this hilarity!
“Where do they come from? I can’t say.
But I bet they have come
a long, long way.”
Could be related to the insular nature of American culture — these kids don’t even know where an elephant comes from! If it’s not from our country, it’s not important.
“I do not know.
Go ask your dad.”
—and later in the book—
“Don’t ask us why.
Go ask your mother.”
—even later—
“I do not know.
Go ask your Pop.”
Relate this to the failings of the education system? Teachers who don’t know their subject matter? If the omniscient narrator doesn’t have all the answers, who does?
The page where an animal has eleven fingers (not typing it out):
Could be the concerns about limited gene pools for endangered species. I expect that a lot of pandas will be born with the wrong number of toes or some other problem as a result of inbreeding.
Ned and his too-short bed:
Look at the average height of a person born 50 years ago, compared to now. Improvements in diet etc. cause us all to be a little too big for antique furniture. Or, if you want to get symbolic (which I don’t), it could be related to people who feel pigeonholed and stifled by society.
‘Our Mike’ seems to be a slave or servant of some kind, catering to the whims of two spoiled kids. Perhaps an au pair? Mike is considered sub-human, and has to sit up the back of the bus *cough* I mean bike. Seems he didn’t hear about segregation being abolished. Racial prejudice is alive and well.
Ned and his too-short bed, part 2:
Ned is just complaining, now. Someone calls him up to ask how he’s going, and he gets annoyed because the pets are on his bed! Relate that to people spoiling their pets.
“Oh, dear! Oh, dear!
I can not hear.”
That page corresponds to the burdens on the health system of a country with an aging population. All the poor little old dears running to the doctor for every little thing.
“But a Nook can’t read,
so a Nook can’t cook.
SO…
what good to a Nook
is a hook cook book?”
What good is a book to someone who hasn’t learned to read? A lot of aid organisations expound on the necessity of educating people in third-world countries. This page can be related to the futility of providing aid that’s not sustainable (eg giving them food rather than farm equipment) or to the illiteracy rates around the world.
“I would never walk.
I would take a car.”
…and that is why you will be as fat and lazy as the big fat fish was. Many people drive their car to travel just a few streets. Also, the sheep who were walking all night from near to far might not have been able to afford petrol anymore.
“At our house
we open cans.
We have to open
many cans.
And that is why
we have a Zans.”
This one has the disposable wrapping-landfill-recycling issue, and also our unfortunate tendency to have an appliance for everything. Why, for the love of logic, would anyone need a popcorn-making machine? Use a microwave! Or the stove! It’s blatant consumerism.
The kid has a Zans for cans, Gox for boxing, a Ying for singing, he is so spoiled! I’m not sure what specifically this is related to, but had to mention it. The narrator keeps saying that if you have a lot of pink ink, buy a Yink. If you like to brush and comb, buy a blue-haired thing. Do shoppers have ANY impulse control anymore? Seriously, this is an important issue. The crap you can buy on ebay is amazing.
“Why do I like to
hop, hop, hop?
I do not know.”
This could be a psychological issue. The Yop who likes to hop has a disorder. Relate this to a current issue… people who are addicted to poker machines, and spend all their time at the casino? All they like to do is play.
“If you never did,
you should.
These things are fun
and fun is good.”
Um. I’m really reaching now, but maybe this has something to do with how hard it is to keep employees in boring jobs, or keep students’ attention in school, because we all expect to be entertained and have no discipline.
The page with two people standing next to each other talking on the telephone is great. Overuse of mobile phones, texting or calling someone who’s in the next room. I used to always have a messaging program open when in a computer lab at uni, so my friends and I could chat without actually speaking. They were just next to me, but… too far.
I don’t know if you’ll be able to use this, but apparently the book has marxist leanings:
http://www.megaessays.com/viewpaper/2485…
so sad.