Stories have always been a crucial part of cultures around the globe. Not only have we been captivated by their morals and their unusual characters. However, one of the best story tellers of the time has been Theodore Geisel, commonly known by his nom-de-plume, Dr. Seuss.

His lovable stories like, Green Eggs and Ham, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, and so many more have been a treasure to many kids and adults. However, many of his stories give a great deal of insight to social problems. The biggest example of this comes from his tale of The Sneetches.

The Sneetches centers around The Sneetches who either have a star on their belly or they don’t. However, those Sneetches with a star on their belly are considered privileged and are “the best kind of Sneetch on the beach.” In this, Seuss could be referring to race relations in America.

After a time, though, a man named Sylvester McMonkey McBean comes to the beach to help the Sneetches without a star on their belly’s. They go through a machine that puts a star on their belly and now the are just like the other Sneetches. Now that all the Sneetches on the beach have stars on their belly’s, the original Star-Bellied Sneetches decide they must remain separate from the former Plain-Bellied Sneetches.

Once again Sylvester McMonkey McBean intervenes on their behalf and sends them through a machine that removes the star from their belly, thus making them different from the other Sneetches. Both groups of Sneetches continue to go through both machines until they can’t tell who started out as what.

The overall story can primarily be applied to the idea of light skin Black people “passing” as white, a theme explored in the film, The Imitation of Life. Two of his stories apply to the idea of just how capitalism has become a major part of society. The first story is The Lorax, for the sake of this article I’m referring to the book and the 1970’s cartoon, not the feature film.

Speaking for the Truffula Trees, The Lorax was all for saving the environment and keeping the tree growing. After the profit driven Once-ler completely destroys a large eco-system in the name of creating Thneeds. Once the last Truffula tree is chopped down, everyone leaves the area because they have to find a means of remaining financially stable.

The Lorax then lifts himself up and goes to a much healthier area, as the Onceler’s factories have clouded the skies in pollution, leaving a pile of stone behind that spells out UNLESS. The quote this is based on is, “Unless some like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not.” The book was meant to address much of evil in the world and environmental concerns.

Finally comes a story made famous by Boris Karloff and comedian Jim Carrey, How the Grinch Stole Christmas. A tale about someone who abhors the holiday of Christmas but only because of the values he sees and not what it represents.

The Grinch really centers on the idea of how capitalism has overtaken the true values that Christmas originally embodied. Time has shown that our thankful spirit usually expires once we’ve awaken from out turkey induced food coma. Black Friday, which has moved from Friday to Thursday and as of 2015 to Wednesday.

One thing can be said for the villains of Dr. Seuss’ books, they all were based in societal institutions and fact. The star-bellied Sneetches were based on White America and just how they wanted to remain separate from Black people. The Once-ler was based on loose environmental regulations and poor chooses in development which led to disasters like Love Canal. Finally, the Grinch is based in the idea of capitalism and how people can lose sight of the pure values of Christmas.

Dr. Seuss was a great author and gave all of us great childhood memories while at the same time preparing us for just what life could be like. Despite not knowing what 2017 would have brought, Seuss managed to see just what life could hold for children. Perhaps his books weren’t entertainment, but were meant as a warning of society’s deceptive views.