Dr. Seuss: An Allegory Of The Cold War

“The Butter Battle Book” by Dr. Seuss is an effective satirical representation of the Cold War. Dr. Seuss was alive during the Cold War; he wrote this book to display his feelings towards the war and used it as an eye opener to bring about public awareness of not only the national issues, but also the tension involved in some of the global ones. The book wasn’t just entertainment for children to enjoy or just awareness for the adults but a lesson that can be easily understood by both audiences. He was passively trying to get across to people that with the social issues that were arising, there were flaws on both sides of the argument.

The Cold war began in the early 1940’s. The name developed from there being little action and all talk, with

Seuss used the war as an inspiration for his mind-altering way to bring this issue into the public eye. The book was written near the middle of the war and even though it is Yooks vs Zooks, this rendition still rings true to what happened in the war. The book starts out in the same way that the war did, each population thinking that their way was how it should be; for the Soviet Union and United States, it was Communism vs Anti Communism, but for the Yooks and Zooks, it was butter side up or butter side down. This comparison shows how Dr. Seuss thought the whole idea of the war was unwise enough to parallel it with something as absurd as whether or not to butter your bread on the top or bottom. Dr.Seuss’s use of imagery, symbolism, and allegory really ties the whole story together in a nice bow. The use of imagery in the story helps portray its meaning all the while keeping the childish theme to it.The weapons in the book are a prime example for this rhetorical strategies.The use of symbolism in the story helps the reader understand from the adults standpoint what the hidden message is which leads to the use of allegory in the story. The book is hauntingly similar to the actual war; there is a reason he makes certain parts in the story really stand out. During the Cold War the two nations argued back and forth about which side of the argument would benefit the two nations the most and the exact same thing happens in the book with bread buttering. The book also shows how the weaponry battle was another big part of the war itself. The back and forth weapon making between the Yooks and Zooks resemble how the Soviet Union and The United States tried outdoing each other coming up with the more modern, more successful weapons. In both cases there was a wall that separated the two sides, in the book it was symbolism showing how they prefer to stay self segregated, just like the Berlin Wall in the actual Cold War. Overall the