The Lorax

Told through Dr. Seuss’s customary mixture of rhyming verse, made-up words, and illustrations, The Lorax tells the tale of a forest-dwelling creature and the greedy developer who destroys his natural environment. The story opens on a dark night, with a young boy walking from his home on the edge of a dilapidated town towards “the Street of the Lifted Lorax.” The boy is curious about who or what the Lorax was and why the town is so rundown. He approaches the one person who can tell him more: “the Once-ler.”

The Once-ler is a strange, reclusive inventor who makes his own clothing and lives above a clothing shop. Although antisocial, the Once-ler can be persuaded to speak to people in rare circumstances, and the boy is hoping to hear his story. To help persuade him, the boy has brought fifteen cents, a nail, and a snail shell which he uses to bribe the Once-ler into lowering down a “whisper-ma-phone” and telling him his tale.

The story begins with the Once-ler arriving in the area and finding it beautiful and fertile, filled with colorful, fluffy “Truffula Trees” and wonderful creatures like “Humming-Fish,” “Swomee-Swans,” and “Brown Bar-ba-loots.” In fact, the area is so beautiful that the Once-ler decides to settle there. He chops down a Truffula Tree and builds a shop where he can sell “Thneeds,” a strange knitted invention that he believes will be incredibly popular. However, chopping down the tree had a consequence that he had not expected: it called up a strange creature called the Lorax who emerges from the tree’s stump.



The Lorax is quite old and hairy, and is orange-yellow in color with a giant bushy moustache. He is the guardian of the trees and explains that he speaks for them because they cannot speak themselves. In a high-pitched, bossy voice, the Lorax chastises the Once-ler for cutting down the Truffula Tree, calls him greedy, and warns him that there will be terrible consequences for his actions. However, the Once-ler is unconcerned by the Lorax and, instead of heeding the creature’s warnings, he calls up his family on a “radio-phone” and invites them to come join him.

The Once-ler’s family arrive and Thneed production grows rapidly. When they are not knitting Thneeds in the Once-ler’s new factory, they are chopping down Truffula trees for raw materials. However, even the whole family’s hard work cannot keep up with the demand for Thneeds so the Once-ler invents a “Super-Axe-Hacker” which can chop down trees on an industrial scale while pumping out smoke and fumes. The Thneed industry continues to grow and the Once-ler is happy to keep expanding and getting richer. However, this is starting to have a terrible impact on the environment and, a week later, the Lorax returns to try to intervene.

First, the Lorax points out that the Brown Bar-ba-loots, who once fed on the fruits of the Truffula trees are now starving and sickly. To prevent their deaths, the Lorax tells them to search for food elsewhere and they leave. The Once-ler is sorry to see them go but does not change his plans. Next, the Lorax, who is himself struggling to breath the polluted air, tells the Once-ler that the Swomee-Swans are leaving because the toxic air is making them sick and preventing them from singing. Finally, the Lorax shows the Once-ler that his factory has polluted the pond where the Humming Fish live. This has gummed up the fishes’ gills so that they can no longer hum and are forced to leave the water and walk away from their home.



Despite witnessing the terrible consequences occurring around him, the Once-ler still insists that he meant no harm and is entitled to keep “biggering” his operations and earnings. However, as he lays out his plans, the last of the Truffula Trees is chopped down and things quickly fall apart for the Once-ler. With no more Truffula Trees he can make no more Thneeds so the factory closes down and his family leaves. When the Lorax also carries himself sadly away, the Once-ler is left alone in the devastation and destruction and terrible pollution. The only thing left to him is a message left by the Lorax: the word “UNLESS” carved into a stone.

The story returns to the present and the Once-ler explains to the curious boy that he has been trying to understand the message ever since the Lorax left. So far, he has been unsuccessful but now, with the arrival of the boy, he finally understands. He explains that “UNLESS” people care then unpleasant circumstance will not improve. He then drops down the last Truffula Tree seed and charges the boy with planting it and regrowing the forest so that the Lorax and the other creatures can return to their home.

The Lorax is generally considered to be a cautionary tale about environmental destruction and selfish greed. In this interpretation, the Lorax represents the environment and those who defend it while the Once-ler represents greedy corporations that are never satisfied with their profits and continue to expand and consume natural resources despite the terrible damage they do to the environment. Occasionally, this theme has proved controversial and critics have complained that it misrepresents the logging industry. However, the book is far more commonly received in a positive light as an engaging fable that carries an important message about sustainability and respecting nature conveyed in a manner that young children can understand and enjoy. It is regularly featured in polls of top children’s books and has been adapted into a 1972 television program, a 2012 movie, and a 2015 musical.