Dr. Seuss (Theodore Geissel)

Paper Summary:

This paper explains that, although Dr. Seuss' books are praised for their portrayals of reality and their moralistic messages, many people overlook their highly stereotypical depictions of gender and race. The author points out that, similar to many of Seuss' female characters, in "The Cat in The Hat", a main character Sally (the sister) appears in every scene with her brother; but she is the only character with no lines and is depicted as being helpless, hiding behind her brother. The paper concludes that Dr. Seuss' wonderfully imaginative poetry, beautiful pictures and way of not underestimating the intelligence of his child readers make him a favorite children's author; however, when a parent makes the choice of whether to read their child a Seuss book or which Seuss book to read, they should be aware of this problems of gender and race stereotyping.

From the Paper:

"Seuss produced a series of shorter stories within volumes that included the line "And Other Stories" within the title. In examining "I Can Lick 30 Tigers Today! And Other Stories", "The Sneetches and Other Stories", and "Yertle the Turtle and Other Stories", the reader will come to see that in each volume one of the "Other Stories" contains a female as the main character. Having a female as the main character seems like a step-up for Dr. Seuss, who usually has very limited secondary female characters; however, when examined closer, the portrayal of all the main characters in these stories is an off-putting one."

More papers on Dr. Seuss (Theodore Geissel) :

• Research Paper # 55142 : "Dr. Seuss and WWII"
• Analytical Essay # 117953 : "The Stories of Dr. Seuss"
• Analytical Essay # 113758 : "Surrealism and Dr. Seuss"

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