The Butter Battle Book by Dr. Seuss is a children’s story that has two different interpretations, one for the kids and one for adults. While entertaining the young ones with a story of two sides one-upping each other with increasingly powerful (and ridiculous) weapons, the adults can pick out a deeper meaning. This tale describes the Cold War in a way such that it is entertaining/meaningful to all. Dr. Seuss’ The Butter Battle Book used narrative elements so well it could be considered one of the best examples of writers’ craft, such as allusion, incongruity, and describing the setting. Before World War II, the US and the Soviet Union were slightly strained because US citizens were scared that communism would take over America, but they cooperated during WWII for the sake of beating
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Just wearing the color red could be a reasonable cause to put you in jail. “It’s high time that you knew of the terrible thing that Zooks do.” writes Seuss. This statement from the main character’s grandfather can clearly be linked to the bigotry that Americans held toward anyone who was different. In the final page of the book, with tensions high and certain death hanging over each country, the child asks, “‘Who’s going to drop it, will you, or will he?’ ‘Be patient,’ said Grandpa, ‘we’ll see, we’ll see.’” (Seuss). A similar circumstance was Soviet Russia and the United States had threatened each other and were waiting for the other to begin what would’ve been a nasty war. Dr. Seuss’s brief children’s book can really be interpreted as a satire of a real event that occurred in the 1950s. This story gave the readers a different look into the fright the communist party gave Americans. Panic was everywhere because of something as small as a different point of view. Seuss’s incongruity, setting, and allusion finely tuned the way readers would look at anything that is different, no matter how
Just wearing the color red could be a reasonable cause to put you in jail. “It’s high time that you knew of the terrible thing that Zooks do.” writes Seuss. This statement from the main character’s grandfather can clearly be linked to the bigotry that Americans held toward anyone who was different. In the final page of the book, with tensions high and certain death hanging over each country, the child asks, “‘Who’s going to drop it, will you, or will he?’ ‘Be patient,’ said Grandpa, ‘we’ll see, we’ll see.’” (Seuss). A similar circumstance was Soviet Russia and the United States had threatened each other and were waiting for the other to begin what would’ve been a nasty war. Dr. Seuss’s brief children’s book can really be interpreted as a satire of a real event that occurred in the 1950s. This story gave the readers a different look into the fright the communist party gave Americans. Panic was everywhere because of something as small as a different point of view. Seuss’s incongruity, setting, and allusion finely tuned the way readers would look at anything that is different, no matter how