The Lorax is a short, orange humanoid from his namesake book, The Lorax. Our fluffy friend is a fictional character, though he has had real-world influences. He is the self-proclaimed speaker of the trees, since most trees, in fact, do not speak and are incapable of cohesive thought. He has a bushy mustache covering most of his face. Though he is quite smart and witty, he doesn’t show it a whole lot. He is often hot-tempered, and his judgment is clouded by his rage. He is a pacifist, however, and doesn’t USUALLY resort to violence. Emphasis on usually, because the bonus features of the movie shows otherwise. He devised a plan to send the Once-ler off into the ocean on his mattress while he was sleeping, potentially causing injury or death by dehydration, sunburn, or starvation. If you ask me, that’s a devious plot for a so-called “pacifist.”
Another man with a killer mustache and temperamental mood is Joseph “Koba” Vissarionovich Stalin. Mr. Stalin was the Premier of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics during the World War II era and into the Cold War. Love or hate him, he had a very notable reputation. He was a feared leader and had racked up a +20 million kill streak in the span of his lifetime. Unfortunately, most of the deaths were those of his own citizens. He brought a famine upon his country, known as the Soviet Famine. He also funded the Gulags, a despicable chain of labor camps. Not even to mention the time he killed off most of his generals and old allies to minimize chances of assassination. Rather than speaking for the trees, he spoke Russian.
Comparing the two, it’s easy to see some similarities appear. Both have equally voluminous face fuzz. Both have lots of friends who are close confidants. They are both seen as “leaders” in the eyes of the common folk. Both are nature-lovers, spending lots of time in the great outdoors. Both often spoke in wise, parable-like terms, emanating from the very ideals they stood upon. Granted, Stalin’s ideals weren’t the greatest, yet they were ideals nonetheless. Both were short and stout, with the Lorax measuring in at three feet and Stalin having a whopping 5 feet and 4 inches to his name. Both gentlemen were hard-headed, thinking with their feelings. . . albeit, mostly anger.
Both of these characters were interesting topics to compare. Part of me believes that Dr. Seuss modeled the Lorax’s character on Stalin himself. This is possible, since the original book was produced during the Cold War. I think, in a duel between the Lorax and Stalin, Stalin might have a small advantage over the former due to his height. But since this is not a duel, I leave my essay at this; both characters are cool, but I think the Lorax wins not only in his ideals, but simply because he did not run a Communist regime and did not kill 20 million people.
*This story is part of our new student writing section! If you are interested in writing for the Falconer, speak to our Advisor, Tracy Knutson or Senior Editor, Kyra Arndt.
