By Charles Christiansen
Photo by Charles Christiansen
The world-famous book Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss is an awe-inspiring book. Admittedly, on the outside, it does seem like a simple children’s story. But if we look deeper on the inside, readers will find that it has many real-life lessons.
Yes, you can actually learn about how the real world works by reading Green Eggs and Ham.
You see, after I read Green Eggs and Ham, and listened to Sam I am, I became the man I am–a man of complexity and nuance. Let me explain.
Green Eggs and Ham starts off with two characters who appear simple at surface level but who are, in fact, much more complex than they initially appear. When hearing the book read aloud, Sam appears to be the protagonist being bothered by another character, but when you see the accompanying pictures, it’s clear that Sam I Am is actually the antagonist, as his entire purpose in the book is to make the unnamed second character eat some green eggs and ham, which the unnamed character does not want to do.
In fact, the unnamed protagonist spends 62 pages explicitly and repeatedly saying he does not like green eggs and ham and does not wish to eat them. The unnamed character’s wishes, clearly and repeatedly made, are completely ignored by Sam, who continuously, for 62 pages, tries to force Mr. No Name to eat green eggs and ham.
Sam I Am goes to great lengths, in a variety of increasingly absurd situations, to get Mr. No Name to eat the detested title dish. He grabs boats and goats and all kinds of things in this effort. After a very long and emotionally depleting battle, Mr. No Name ultimately gives in to Sam and eats the green eggs and ham.
Now, at this point, readers might conclude that Sam is simply a bully, considering his complete disregard for Mr. No Name’s crystal-clear protests. Readers may dislike Sam I Am as much as Mr. No Name detests green eggs and ham.
But here’s the twist. In the end, Mr. No Name discovers that he actually “likes green eggs and ham. I do. I like them, Sam I Am.”
Readers are, from that point on, torn between the negative message of a bully ignoring the free will of another and the positive message of being open to new experience and to change. The big question of the book is this: Is it OK to force others into being tolerant (liking green eggs and ham)? I mean, is forcing tolerance tolerance, or is it Totalitarianism?
“This book helps me separate myself from the negative people in my life,” said Cole Finkelstein, a sophomore at Willow. “I’m also deathly allergic to green eggs and ham, so I kinda see the no-named character’s opinion. Also, I believe, contrary to popular belief, Green Eggs and Ham should be exclusively for adults. Children should not be reading this unless they are very mature because, although the characters are wearing hats, there’s not too many clothes and way too much nudity. Also, the themes are highly complex and nuanced.”
“My criticism of this book is that,” said sophomore Asher Berkner, “if one used Sam I Am as a model of behavior, one would very quickly either get beat up or arrested for any number of harassment crimes. This book should be number 1 in the list of banned books. It’s a disgrace to American literature and is much too violent for a younger audience.”
Berkner paused a moment in what appeared to be an epiphany before continuing, “I had a realization that eating green eggs and green ham is not good because that means the food is probably rotten. Now, stop asking me these silly questions. Take your green eggs and scram.”
