Dr. Seuss's Responses to Nazism: Historical Allegories or Political Parables?

  • Mark I West University of North Carolina

Abstract

In the summer of 1936, Theodore Seuss Geisel, now also known as Dr. Seuss, and his first wife, Helen Palmer Geisel, travelled to Europe where they visited Germany among other countries.  This visit to Germany proved to be a disturbing experience for Seuss and his wife as what he saw of the rise of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party appalled him.  Seeing the impact of Nazism first-hand persuaded Seuss that Hitler posed a grave danger not only to Germany but also to the wider world. Seuss’s concern about the rise of Hitler led him to leave the world of advertising and, initially, become a political cartoonist, and would later result in several books encouraging readers to challenge structures of power: Yertle the Turtle, published in 1958, and The Sneetches, published in 1961.

Author Biography

Mark I West, University of North Carolina
Mark I. West is a Professor of English and Chair of the Department of English at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, where he has taught since 1984. In addition to performing administrative duties, he regularly teaches courses on children's and young adult literature. He has written or edited fifteen books, the most recent of which is Walt Disney, from Reader to Storyteller which he co-edited with Kathy Merlock Jackson. His articles have appeared in various popular magazines, such as the New York Times Book Review, Publishers Weekly, Americana, and British Heritage, as well as many academic journals. Before entering academia, he worked as an early childhood educator and professional puppeteer.
Published
2016-07-25
Issue
Vol. 19 No. 1 (2016)
Section
Jabberwocky
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