The Lorax

The Once-ler was a businessman who ran his company with the exclusive goal of increasing its sales and profits as rapidly as possible, a common practice in a market economy. In the process he ignored the long-term sustainability of his business and environmental concerns such as biodiversity and habitat loss. In his old age he tells a curious boy about the splendor of nature in his youth and the growth and crash of industry at the far end of town.

Discovering the potential for profit in a lush forest of Truffula trees, the Once-ler began clearcutting it to mass-market Thneeds (odd-looking but versatile knitted garments) made from the Truffula tree tufts. The Lorax vehemently protested the destruction of the Truffula forest, stating that the Once-ler was crazy with greed and that his business was destroying the Truffula ecosystem, causing mass migrations of native fauna. The Once-ler didn't listen; he continued clearcutting the trees and dumping industrial waste into nearby ponds. After the ecosystem was unable to sustain itself, the animals gone, and all of the Truffula trees had been cut, the Lorax left the Once-ler with a message: UNLESS, and the last of the Truffula seeds.

With age the Once-ler had come to realise the folly of his ways, and the importance of conservation. Speaking not only to the boy in the story, but directly to the reader, the Once-ler explains that unless someone cares a lot about the environment, nothing is going to get better. The Once-ler then gives the boy the very last Truffula seed, telling him to grow a new tree, build a whole forest, protect it from axes, and then, perhaps, the Lorax and his friends will return.

The book is commonly recognized as a concerning industrialized society, using the literary element of personification to give life to industry as the Once-ler, and the environment as the Lorax. The Once-ler's face is never seen throughout the story, often noted by children.

This book has the distinction of being the only book that Seuss ever changed after publication, by removing the Lorax's line, "I hear things are just as bad up at Lake Erie!"

The Lorax was also made into an animated TV special, produced by DePatie-Freleng Enterprises, and still contained a line about Lake Erie.