• The Lorax

    The Lorax is a story written by Dr. Seuss and though it may seem as just a kid’s novel, the movie version also contains quite a few elements that can be studied in high school or university alike. The Lorax contains elements of various archetypes, including the hero’s journey. This essay will show how the hero’s journey archetype had propelled the theme of the film by telling it from the Once-lers point of view.
    The first main aspect of the hero’s journey archetype is the beginning setting, it is peaceful, beautiful, and lovely before Once-ler set up his Thneed shop.
    The second aspect of the hero’s journey archetype in The Lorax is the crossing of the threshold, The crossing can seen as when the Lorax embarks on his journey to speak for the trees, and stop the Once-ler from chopping down all the forest, which shows the initiative of the hero.
    The third aspect or the hero’s journey is the realization of the Tests, Allies Enemies. The tests would apply to the feat of stopping Once-ler from chopping down the Truffula Forest. The Lorax’s allies are the Bar-Ba-Loots, Swomee-swans and the humming-fish. The enemies of the Lorax would be Once-ler, Once-ler’s family and the machine and their various operators.
    The fourth aspect of the hero’s journey is the Ordeal, the Lorax ends up suffering a great ordeal by the constant teasing, abuse, and ignorance by the Once-ler that he looks down at him with great shame, the lifts himself up through a hole in the clouds due to all the misery he had been punished with.
    The fifth aspect of the hero’s journey in the film is Call to adventure, when the Once-ler starts his tree-killing rampage in the Truffula forest, the Lorax knew that he would have to go and stop him, which is his call to adventure.
    The sixth and final aspect of the hero’s journey in The Lorax, is the inmost cave, and it is visualized in the movie by the scene where the Lorax give Once-ler his most convincing speech, and almost has the Once-ler about to stop all production but then he sways back to his greedy ways, and bats the Lorax away.
    The Once-ler is the main antagonist of the story, as well as the narrator who is indeed according to the evidence of the movie, a trickster. The Once-ler displays many of the trickster qualities throughout the film. Some of the qualities and attributes are his greediness, his need to start trouble; he gives mankind a gift that in the end dooms mankind sort of like a sick ironic joke. Needles to say the Once-ler gives The Lorax the trickster archetype which was the infused in the main plot of the movie.