Lorax And The Sneetches: Literary Analysis

1610 Words7 Pages

Stories such as The Lorax and The Sneetches are read to young children often stick with them throughout adulthood in many different ways. The morals of those stories help to teach people what our parents cannot. When people read those stories as children, they often miss the significance of certain elements in them. As these children become adults, they begin to realize just how important those books were, as well as the underlying darkness in them. In certain books such as Alice in Wonderland and Peter Pan, the morals of the stories are not as easy to miss. However, there are elements that are better understood by adults, such as the innocence of the children. Through the use of diction, other stylistic elements, and syntax, the authors Lewis Carroll and J.M. Barrie show that the characters in the books as well as the content are complex …show more content…

Donald Rackin said “The texts were, moreover, replete with primal scenes and overpowering, symbolic renditions of classic Freudian tropes (a vaginal rabbit hole and a phallic Alice, an amniotic pool of tears, hysterical mother figures and impotent father figures, threats of decapitations [castration]…” These tropes are difficult, almost impossible, for children to understand. However adults are able to catch on to some of them. These tropes are a necessity because they allow for a more profound understanding of the story. It helps to appeal to older audiences and allows the adults to connect with Alice and other characters. Carroll put these tropes into the story to specifically make the book more intelligible for adults. While some adults would read a children’s book with little hidden meaning and tropes, more would prefer to read something with more depth. It allows for a feeling of understanding. When they read the book as a child and then again as an adult and see the differences and realize the depth, they have a newfound sense of