How we cite our quotes: (Line)
Quote #1
One morning, I came to this glorious place
And first I saw the trees!
The Truffula Trees! (59-61)
Truffula Trees look kind of like cotton candy on a stick—good enough to eat. They are the centerpieces of natural beauty in The Lorax, so it's hard to watch as they all get chopped down. Would we care quite as much about these trees if they weren't so stinkin' pretty?
Quote #2
"Mister!" he said with a sawdusty sneeze,
"I am the Lorax. I speak for the trees." (95-96)
The Lorax represents the natural world, but Shmoop suspects he's supernatural. After all, he does pop out of a tree stump and seems to be able to fly without wings. Also, did you notice that he only appears when the forest is threatened? It's almost like he's an as-needed buffer between man and the natural world.
Quote #3
We were all knitting Thneeds
just as busy as bees,
to the sound of the chopping
of Truffula Trees. (134-37)
The chopping of trees is literally music to the ears of the Once-ler and his family. Well, they definitely learned their lesson the hard way. Too bad Dr. Seuss wasn't around when they were kids to teach them important life lessons.
Quote #4
"Once-ler! You're making such smogulous smoke!
My poor Swomee-Swans… why they can't sing a note!
No one can sing who has smog in his throat." (184-86)
Dr. Seuss sure is sneaky. Here, even the little ones can easily see how the smoke from the Once-ler's factory, the sky, and the lives of the Swomee Swans are all intricately connected.
Quote #5
No more trees. No more Thneeds. No more work to be done. (219)
Concerns about the natural world aside, chopping down all the trees turns out to be bad business, too. Oops.
Quote #6
"You're in charge of the last of the Truffula Seeds. (257)
And Trufulla Trees are what everyone needs. (258)
A lot of time seems to have passed between the Great Truffula Extinction and when the Once-ler gives the boy the last seed. In the meantime, the Once-ler has done a complete 180. He no longer sees the Truffulas as future Thneeds, but as valuable and beautiful works of nature.