Horton Hears a Who Author: | Language: English | ISBN:
B000GHMWF8 | Format: EPUB
Horton Hears a Who Description
Horton, the lovable elephant, tries to protect tiny creatures on a speck of dust.
- Audible Audio Edition
- Listening Length: 16 minutes
- Program Type: Audiobook
- Version: Unabridged
- Publisher: Listening Library
- Audible.com Release Date: June 26, 2006
- Language: English
- ASIN: B000GHMWF8
Like many of Dr. Seuss' great classics, "Horton Hears a Who!" can be read on multiple levels. You could approach it as a straightforward story (which is, I'm sure, how most children enjoy it). Or you could read the plot and characters as metaphors for larger issues. Either way, "Horton" is an unforgettable text.
"Horton" opens with the delightful rhyme "On the fifteenth of May, in the Jungle of Nool, / In the heat of the day, in the cool of the pool." Horton, a kind-hearted elephant, is the only inhabitant of the jungle who is capable of hearing the Whos, a microscopic race of beings whose entire civilization exists on a speck of dust. Mocked and abused by those who refuse to believe in the tiny Whos, Horton must ultimately join the Whos in a bold plan to prove the tiny beings' existence, and thus save their civilization from destruction.
Dr. Seuss brilliantly combines the classic animal fable genre with a brilliant science fiction twist. But I also see "Horton" as a deeply humanistic parable of social justice. The Whos could be seen as symbols for any group of individuals who have been rendered "invisible" and voiceless by an arrogant dominant group. So the Whos could represent the poor, the lesbian and gay community, ethnic or religious minorities, women, or other groups.
And Horton could be seen as a courageous, nonconformist prophet of social justice--a sort of Seussian version of Pablo Neruda, or Walt Whitman. Moreover, Horton is a member of the "dominant" group who chooses to identify with and stand in solidarity with a marginalized community, even at the risk of his own freedom.
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