The Spirited Review - Yertle the Turtle

Yertle the Turtle by Dr. Seuss

But, while he was shouting, he saw with surprise
That the moon of the evening was starting to rise
Up over his head in the darkening skies.
"What's THAT?" snorted Yertle. "Say, what IS that thing
That dares to be higher than Yertle the King?
I shall not allow it! I'll go higher still!
I'll build my throne higher! I can and I will!

Sound familiar? Dr. Seuss was a master of political satire, writing on so many levels that all at once the youngest children can enjoy a good story and older children can play with moral matter, while adults hear the social commentary nested in parable. Seuss' stories are as relevant for adults and teens as they are for the youngsters to whom they are usually marketed.

Yertle the Turtle was "king" of a pond, a nice little pond where the happy turtles had all they might need. Until one day, Yertle decided that he needed to rule more, and that in order to rule more, he needed to see more, and in order to see more, he needed to be higher. Yertle, the penthouse turtle. And so he commanded the other turtles to climb back on back to build him a throne, higher and higher, "For I am the ruler of all that I see!"

A little turtle named Mack is the first brick of his throne, and Mack pleads with his majesty to let the turtles free to relax and to feed. But Yertle tells Mack that he has no right to talk to the world's highest turtle... and so a mad Mack burps, and in burping, unsettles the throne of the king, and the king of the air becomes only king of the mud, once again.

Yertle is an excellent teaching story for all ages, offering a wealth of ideas for rumination and discussion. Why do the turtles obey the king? Why does the king feel the need to rule more? What is rulership? Ownership? Do the other member species of Earth recognize the boundaries of ownership that humans try to impose? If not, what does this imply? What does it mean to be Mack? To be Yertle? Can Yertle decide Mack's "right" or lack thereof to speak? Do we see ourselves as Macks, Yertles, or turtles in between?

It is empowering to read a story in which one little turtle can shake the throne of the king; too often, I think, we accept constructed ideas as the realities that their constructors would like us to believe them to be. What, after all, does ownership mean? If it is nothing more than a legal or social construct, then who should decide what gets constructed? Yertle reminds us too of the loss of the commons, and shows us what we have allowed to be built instead in its place.

My husband and I used to have arguments with his stepfather about limiting wealth. We thought it was a splendid idea, while he thought that imposing a limit on wealth would depress people's activities, that people needed the dream of being on top. Yertle the Turtle shows up this question in humorous relief -- what, after all, is the worth of a throne that is built from the backs of other living creatures? (One might even inquire about the worth of any throne.) Most of us spend a significant portion of our lives struggling to "make money," contributing to the throne of those who have imposed the money politic on our culture. I think it is a worthwhile exercise to ask ourselves what would be enough, what we would want if we could have anything. Do we want to be turtles on top, ruling human culture, the animals, seas and the skies? Or would we really be happier living in a pond with other happy turtles, warm water, and plenty to eat? And if so, why do we believe that we cannot? Have we listened, and quivered, beneath Yertle too long?

Note: those who enjoy listening to stories on tape or compact disc may enjoy a compilation produced in 1999 by Buddha Records, "Dr Seuss presents... Green Eggs and Ham... and other Stories," which contains a marvelously jazzy version of Green Eggs and Ham, as well as recitations of Yertle the Turtle, The Rabbit, the Bear and the Zinniga-Zanniga, The Big Brag, and Bartholomew and the Oobleck.

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