The Lorax and the legacy of Easter Island dually exhibit a meaning far beyond the colorful depictions of fictional creatures, one surpassing even the extent of the persisting statues towering above the ground. Amidst their disparities, the two tales successfully illuminate the consequences of monetary as well as personal desire and serve as warnings against pursuing a similar objective. In The Lorax and the demise of Easter Island, the horrors of environmental ignorance are thoroughly elucidated. These two societies likewise consisted of ecosystems containing a greatly thriving environment of diverse animal populations who lived dependently on the local vegetation and resources as would be expected. However, as the people of Easter Island depreciated their once teeming population of trees in order to construct the still erect monuments that have gained them substantial fame today, so too did the Once-Ler thoroughly exonerate all traces of the once abundant Truffula Trees in order to fabricate his all-purpose thneeds. Continuing with this slew of similarities as well as factually correct outcome, in both instances the once prosperous wildlife suffered at the hands of the threatening byproducts of these actions such as air pollution, water pollution, and overpopulation. Consequently, these animals such as the Brown Bar-ba-loots, Swomee-Swans, and the native land birds of Easter Island were either forced to escape in order to survive or driven to extinction. The Once-Ler in
In the article by Jared Diamond, many interesting theories are discussed about Easter Island’s history and decline. Diamond makes connections to the environmental challenges we face today and he compares the catastrophe of Easter Island to our current over consumption of natural resources. While this article makes for an interesting read, much of it is offered from a single perspective and little counter evidence is offered. The author writes in a way that could engage a non-academic audience who may not be interested in counter evidence, or proper referencing. The article lacks credibility due to its narrow scope and conversational diction. At the root of this discussion however, is the notion that the Rapa Nui people were
Voice for the trees Lorax and logger Truax are considered heroes in their respective stories. Despite the two characters having such opposing views on the logging industry, they have many similarities when it comes to the delivery of their message. The Lorax shares a story of a persistent creature named Lorax who is frustrated with the Truffula trees being cut down by the evil Once-Ler. In the Truax a kind, gentle logger explains the countless benefits of logging to the grouchy Guardbark protector of the trees. This essay will compare and contrast the two stories.
could live there, and to have a supply of trees for the future. In Easter
“The mystery of the giant stone figures on Easter Island has puzzled people for centuries.”(Innes 4) Easter Island is a tiny island that lies in the southern Pacific Ocean and is 2000 miles west of the coast of Chile and is known as “Rapanui”. The name Easter Island originally came from a Dutch sailor, Jacob Roggeveen, who first visited the island on Easter Sunday, 1722. Easter Island is famous for its remarkable 887 human stone figures with extremely large finely carved heads and round bodies. The monumental statues in Easter Island are known as”Moai”. The Moai are carved from a stone called Tuff, which is an easily carved, compressed volcanic ash. Easter Island has always contained a mystery and there have been many theories about how the
The Lorax helps the helpless by advocating for those without a voice, namely the Truffula trees, the Bar-ba-loots, the Swomee swans and the humming fish. Soon after the Once-ler cut down a Truffula tree, the upset Lorax appears and establishes his position as communicator for the trees by saying that he “speaks for the trees.” He then proceeds to berate the Once-ler for cutting down the tree just to create his Thneed, which immediately caught the attraction of many customers. After the Once-ler realizes the potential of his versatile object created from Truffula tufts, he hurriedly set up a factory and began cutting down increasing amounts of Truffula trees to provide for the increase in production. Inevitably, this began to have adverse effects on the ecosystem, and the Lorax spoke up once again, this time on behalf of the Bar-ba-loots. Previously eating Truffula fruits and happily playing under the shade, the Bar-ba-loots had now lost their food source. The Lorax
The Lorax is a prime example of the concept, “Tragedy of the Commons.” In the movie we are able to see a beautiful landscape filled with animals, trees, and beautiful skies destroyed by the carelessness of the Once-ler. Although the Lorax speaks for the trees, the Once-ler’s money hungry goals blind him of his wrong doings because if he didn’t do it someone else would. In the beginning of the movie we see grass up to your chest, crows, and skies as dark as granite.
The decreasing of trees caused species of fish, birds, and bears all to become endangered because their habitats or food were no longer suitable. The fish and birds were threatened because their environment was polluted and it reigned danger on their species. The cause of this was the factory that the onceler built to produce more thneeds. It was polluting the air with smog and making it difficult for birds to live and fly in the sky. Furthermore, the fish couldn’t survive because the factory was dumping its waste into their waters. Also, the Truffula trees supplied fruits for the bears to eat and with the tree population diminished the bears didn’t have any food. The onceler was not living sustainably and therefore his actions were hurting the environment around him. In comparison to this, the Polynesians on Easter Island were diminishing their food supply; although, they had lowered theirs by different means. The people on Easter Island, at the time, did not have the technology that the onceler had. This was why they couldn’t pollute the air or water around them like he had unknowingly done. Animals and organisms on their island did become endangered though just as the ones in The Lorax had. Rats had devoured seeds, native birds died out that used to pollinate the trees flowers and disperse their wild fruit, and other animals were eaten ravenously. As their food sources ran low the Polynesians’ turned on each other, the largest remaining meat source available on the island. These events display the effect of what can happen when only just one natural resource is deplenished. Due to the actions of both people in the stories and the causes of nature both environments were sent into
Suess, is known for being a children’s book with a political subtext. The issue that arises is the fact that the environment is being destroyed and mishandled by man kind. Suess makes the more educated reader know of the changes in the environment by beginning the text with imagery of a beautiful, nature filled area. Then Suess says that the place the lorax lives is being destroyed. Just like in society, the people claimed that chopping down one tree wouldn’t hurt, but soon chopping down one tree turned into chopping down multiple trees. Suess uses the lorax to represent the protector of nature and how nature is being
Thriving at the time, the islanders did not acknowledge the consequences their gluttonous habits had the potential of mustering, eventually overpopulating. Subsequently, the remaining resources were diminished rather quickly as the population began to struggle for the most basic of necessities, the situation so dire that cannibalism was a tangible option. Likewise, “The Lorax” displays the exact same form of shameless excess that ignites overpopulation as the Once-ler invites others to join him until said phenomena occurs. Unfortunately, the Once-ler does not realize the damage he has wrought until the final tree is chopped, a land once rich in flora entirely bare. Essentially, overpopulation bears the stigma for ruin as it creates an overabundance of need and craving, ultimately using resources at an alarmingly fast
In the article Early Americans Helped Colonize Easter Island, the author discusses a theory that shows South American’s helped Colonize Easter Island before the Europeans. Easter island is located on the eastern side of Polynesia, and it is very remote. To begin, Easter Island was colonized by Asia, and migration began around 5500 years ago; however, Thor Heyerdahl thought otherwise. He theorized that the first colonizers of Easter Island came from Boliva, and he tested this theory through the Kon- Tiki Expedition. During this expedition, he successfully sailed a balsa wooden raft from Peru to Polynesia. Therefore proving that migration from Boliva to Easter Island was possible. Another scientist, Erik Thorsby discovered genetic evidence that
In this paper, we will search for an explanation of the mystical collapse of society on Easter Island, during the 18th century. We’ll use the second chapter for the book “Collapse. How Society Choose to Fail or Succeed” by Jared Diamond. First we will summarize some of the evidence supporting the explanatory framework of the author to give an outline of the situation. Then we will state the research question. After that we will talk about the underlying process where we will discuss the actions of the assumptions of the actors goals, the theory of the action implied and the initial conditions. We will finish with a conclusion.
The Once-ler always reflects on the days when the grass was still green and the pond was still wet and the clouds were still clean. It’s very obvious that he wishes that he wouldn’t have made such a devastating impact on the area. The Once-ler chops down one of the Truffula Trees to make his first Thneed. He promises the Lorax that he shouldn’t be alarmed because he only chopped down one tree. But Thneed’s were becoming more popular so the Once-ler chops down more and more trees until they are all gone. Once you start abusing nature it is difficult to stop so its best to not start in the first place. This could compare to any bio-diverse regions in the world who are being threatened by new development.
The story begins with the Once-ler, informing the reader of the local natural history of the now world and how it was once home to the Lorax. The Onceler discloses to us that the Lorax can speak for the trees because tress have no tongues. The Once-ler has greedily taken advantage of this natural habitat, which was once home to the Truffula Tress. The Once-ler cruelly destroyed all the Truffula Trees to merchandise “thneeds”. Pollution is evident through the deformation and pursuit of economic gain of the Once-ler. All the creatures who
The Lorax as an environmental study, then we can connect the themes in the story to
For the most part, though a childrenʻs story, The Lorax is an environmentalist message targeted to urge young readers who are in time, going to determine our future, to learn from the tragic results of the Oncelerʻs actions. In the beginning of the story, the Onceler discovers the trufffula trees and begins to cut them down carelessly to make clothing, which in turn provided him money to use for his own selfish reasons. In reaction to the Oncelerʻs cruel actions, the Lorax confronts and warns the Onceler that if he continues to pollute the environment and cutting down the resources and homes of the species that live in it there will be consequences. Not caring about anything or anyone but himself, the Onceler continues to cut down the trees and use them for his own benefits, which continues to cause damage to the land and the species