The Revolution Begins
- Here we go, Shmoopers. The most famous passage in this text, and perhaps even in the entire Seuss canon. We're going to type out the most important part because, well, it's so good, and we just can't resist.
- "Your Majesty please…I don't like to complain,/ But down here below, we are feeling great pain./ I know, up on top you are seeing great sights,/ But down at the bottom we, too, should have rights" (65 – 68).
- Poor Mack. Don't you just feel for the guy?
- Well, feel as we might, Yertle sure won't. And that pretty much sums up the core of Seuss' belief about work, labor, power, government, and sightseeing.
- We'll go into much greater depth into this in the section on "Meaning," but as a preview, think about what this book is really about: how the powerful don't mind standing on the backs of the weak and the poor if it makes them feel good, and how nothing will ever change unless the people at the bottom say something.
- Need proof? May we present the very next page.