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Montana May
April 24, 2015
Ashley Humphries
ENC 1101
What is there to Really See
Most know Dr. Seuss for his rhymes and creative children scenarios, but has anyone ever
really looked at his books through an adult eye, one that turns his childrens books into real
world lessons and scenarios? Some have, and what they discover being subconsciously
transmitted into childrens brains is astounding. When creating the Sneetch species, using small
yet noticeable differences in the pictures and the selective word-choice Dr. Seuss creates a
message that neither pictures nor words, could deliver on its own. These differences allow us to
make connections with existing racism and non-acceptance between culture groups during the
1960s and World War II, which is the time the story was created.
In his childrens book The Sneetches Dr. Seuss shows how a tiny green star on the
round of a stomach can alter the social inclusion and wellbeing of another group or individual.
With this small difference Seuss shows his audience how they acceptance can influence
someones self-esteem, because he describes how the treatment is prolonged over time of years,
and the plain Sneetches crave to change themselves to show equality between groups. As the
children read farther in the book they see how the colors are very similar from page to page and
not much has changed until another character arrives proposing a solution to the long-term
problem.

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This is the introduction of the character Sylvester McMonkey McBean who attempts to
solve the plain Sneetches wish to have a star. McBean introduces them to a machine named the
Fix-it-Up Chappie which can place a star on their tummy for three dollars per Sneetch. With
this the process begins and as the original Star bellies see what is occurring they ae dissatisfied
and then go to get their stars removed at a higher price to show that they ae still the best.
As the Sneetches travel from one way in the machine to the other, placing and removing
stars constantly they become disorganized and run out of money at which point Sylvester
McBean leaves with his machine. Laughing he thinks they will never change but the Sneetches
learn to appreciate each other for who they are not how many or how little stars they have.
For his books Dr. Seuss primarily focused on illustrations, and purposely forced them to
utilize the entire page though he only used a strict amount of color to show details, but, though
he used minimal coloring the message was still clearly relayed. He then incorporated text to
explain what was occurring, and for his target age group this was a meaningful tactic to use
because, When illustrations reflect people, objects, and situations familiar to children, the
images help validate their emotions and experiences. The process of making an emotional
connection can help a child learn empathy and compassion for others says Reading Is
Fundamental, RIF, Parenting. By Seuss creating a book around the illustrations he allows
children to make connections and judge what they like and do not agree with inside the book as
shown by RIF Parenting who also states that A childs first impression of a book is usually
shaped by the pictures.
In comparison to the pictures, the text offers many interpretations including racism and
segregation during the 1960s, additionally Seuss incorporates a sense of irony, because he states

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that the stars were relatively small in comparison to the Sneetches themselves and they should
not matter in the life of a Sneetch, but the population does in fact make it a great ordeal in their
lives. Supported with, Those stars werent so big. They were really so small. You might think
such a thing wouldnt matter at all, as quoted from page two of his book. This is where he
begins to connect this book to the real world; Skin is relatively small in comparison to a humans
entire body, and we are all the same except for our color, yet in the 1960s segregation was a
huge part in our lives because the white people felt they were superior to the other races that
were currently emigrating to the United States.
To transition from the adult situation to the children, he then incorporates what children
like to do most, play outside with friends. When the little Sneetches went out to play, You could
only play if your bellies had stars, and the Plain-Belly children had none upon thars. The
emphasis between the two groups is not only shown by the star but distinctly in the facial
expressions from the look of hurt and humility from the plain-bellies to the aura of superiority
from the star-bellies shown on page two. The instant comparison between the star and plainbellies are astounding because it is such a minute difference yet they allow it to manage their
lives as if nothing else matters. As you continue on to the following page the comparison
becomes more abrupt. There are more Star-Bellies having fun while the Plain ones simply look
miserable.
But the most prominent sign is in their eyes, supported with textual support from
page five, They kept them away. Never let them come near. And thats how they treated them
year after year. With patterns of behavior established Dr. Seuss goes on describing the physical
aspect of the segregation, he connects the exhaustion and despair in the Plain-Belly Sneetches
eyes to the text around it, the Plain-Belly Sneetches were moping and doping alone on the

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beaches, Just sitting there wishing their bellies had stars With this he sets the ultimate mood
by showing how the plain-bellies spent their days wishing they were like the others because they
felt like less of a Sneetch due to not having a star. This demonstrates a desperation for equality
that the other group refuses to help organize within the Sneetch population. Resulting in Seuss
further demonstrating the sadness and loss of hope the plain-Belly Sneetches have about being
equal to their neighbors.
A character named, Sylvester McMonkey McBean then arrives with an apparent
solution to the Sneetches problem, and he tries to persuade the Sneetches to use his machine,
which Seuss makes a vibrant red against all other washed-out colors in the book. This causes the
machine to promptly stand out and to assume power in the community of the Sneetches.
Ironically, though, he makes Sylvester McMonkey McBean the same color as the Sneetch, but
instead of having a little green star he has a little green hat (Geisel). This resembles how
humanity can be shaped, we are all a little different but overall the same in the most generic
ways.
But McBeans intentions for why he wants to help are questionable. Ive come here to
help you. I have what you need. And my prices are low. And I work at great speed. And my work
is on hundred percent guaranteed! says Mr. McBean on page eight of the book. The Sneetches
obviously went with the idea and paid to go through the machine allowing themselves to finally
be equal with the Star-Bellies. Now resulting in the used-to-be plain-bellies to think they are
better because of a little tummy star, indirectly suggesting that in order to be considered equal to
someone, all parts of the body have to be the same otherwise there was a superiority.

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In this situation the original star-bellies had a difficult time letting go of, because in their
own minds they knew they were the originals and therefore superior. Which the statement
Were still the best Sneetches and they are the worst, demonstrates the narrow-mindedness of
the group, and since there is a demand expressed for a particular outcome it can be satisfied by
Mr. McBean and his machine. Inadvertently McBean proposes star-bellies are no longer in and it
will cost each ten dollars to become the new best Sneetch again.
In contrast to the original star-bellies, when the enduring process begins to make the
plain- bellies better you can see the transformation in their eyes from when they enter with
exhaustion from being rejected to when they pop out with pure confidence. This immediate
transformation can be related to how segregation was first affecting people and then their
transformation happens when World War II is not quite at its peak in the 1960s and some
countries think they have more power than others, which would be taking place when Seuss
wrote this book (Sneetches).
The Sneetches chaos continues, and it becomes more evident that they want to keep
separate groups and are willing to pay almost anything to keep it that way. Maybe the prejudice
isn't based on how the Sneetches look, but on what they own.In a way, Seuss might be warning
us that these types of prejudicesbased on classare just as diabolical as others. Maybe more
so since they can be harder to spot, (The Sneetches Stars). Continuing off of this theory, what if
it is what we own and not who we are? This is simple to spot in Sneetch world but what about
people? How can we repair discrimination based on wealth properly and efficiently?
Unfortunately, these are difficult to spot due to everyone having their own views of wealth and
values. People are not as clean cut as Sneetches so unfortunately Seuss theory would not work
with our society.

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Just as people, the original star-bellies will definitely not accept this sudden change in
power and dominance, because they want to keep their place at the top, where everyone believes
that they are superior. The picture does an amazing job at capturing this because once the new
star- bellies appear their noses change. It becomes predominantly pointed and angles upward
much sharper in comparison to before, which consequently matches what the original starbellies noses, looked like (Geisel). But, Seuss does not stop there, he continues by also altering
the original star- bellies noses to appear more like the use-to-be plain- bellies, which was more
rounded and literally bent out of shape.
As for McBean, on pages 22 and 23 of the Seuss book, he is illustrated as quite content
and driving away on his Fix-it-Up Chappie, which is now loaded with the Sneetches money.
Where in comparison the Sneetches he is leaving behind appear to be completely devastated at
the sight. But, as the Chappie drives away, could that have been the representation of capitalism
within the Sneetches society? If so then through McBean's machines, we get a nice little view of
how Seuss sees capitalism. The Sneetches think they have a problem, so McBean constructs a
machine to fix said problem. The Sneetches then keep paying to fix the problemwhich may not
have been there to begin with if not for McBean, McBeans Machine.
Finally, something does click in the Sneetches and they realize the absurdity of it all and
come to accept the other as they are (considering they also lost track of who was who throughout
the entire process). This page is especially important because it is the first time we see the
interaction between the two types without hostility (Geisel), and if you look closely you will also
see how their noses are now different but some are the same, like the stars that some have and
others do not.

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Repercussions surely followed the Sneetches to this point because the plain-bellies were
trying to prove their equality to the plain-bellies, and from within the story you can relate Mr.
McBean to the media who portrays what is in and what is not, or more bluntly what is
accepted in society. Because in the story Mr. McBean serves as this force that controls what is
accepted among the Sneetches and what is not, causing the hostility to continue between the
groups. Relating back to World War II, when races did not accept others and used weapons, or in
this case machines, to prove that they were better than other races, which is precisely what the
original Star-Belly Sneetches were trying to accomplish, because they were using the, Fix-it-up
Chappie to show that they were better than the original Plain-Belly Sneetches.
Eventually it was out of control and both groups were constantly changing and spening
money to stay ahead of the other group, similar to what happened when countries funded the war
to help their own stay ahead in the fight. Consequently the Sneetches had no more money and no
one knew who originally had a star or not.
But, Mr. McBean was not around for this part, he simply left after all their money was
collected, and concluded they would never get along because of how they were initiall and their
reaction to the machine, which is relatable to how Hitler thought everyone would react to the
Jews (hence the stars), but surprisingly the Sneetches learned to accept as did society learn to
accept the difference among the varying cultures. At this point in the book Dr. Seuss concludes
with, That day, all the Sneetches forgot about stars And whether they had one, or not, upon
thars. The end.
Though both elements of the book are completely separate, without the other neither
would be able to deliver the entire message Seuss wanted to portray. The textual support helps to

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better define the reason behind the picture, while the visuals help the reader to imagine what is
occurring. Seuss further eliminates confusion with how discrimination is presented because he
demonstrates more in pictures instead of stating it in text, but the text enables readers to think
about what is happening behind the illustration. Therefore, allowing the little green stars to be
shown as the huge discrepancy they are to Sneetches, demonstrating to younger children the
absurdness of racism and discrimination present in our society. As, we reread through the book
with this in the back of our minds the connection increasingly becomes more real and
astonishing as we see his message very clearly now.

Works Cited:
Geisel, Theodor. Sneetches and Other Stories Written by Dr. Seuss. New York: Random
House, 1961. Print.
McBeans Machines. Shoomp. N.p, n.d. Web. 28 Feb. 2015.

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Parenting, RIF. Getting the Most out of Picture Books. Reading is Fundamental. Rif
Parent Guide Brochure, n.d. Web. 18 Apr. 2015.
The Political Dr. Seuss. Independent Lens. N.p, n.d. Web. 2 March 2015.
Sneetches. Center for Civic Reflection. N.p, n.d. Web. 3 March 2015
The Sneetches Stars. Shoomp. N.p, n.d. Web. 28 Feb. 2015.