Abstract
Dr. Seuss’ vivid picture book The Lorax (1971) depicts the story of how the Street of The Lifted Lorax (setting) came to be. There is an air of mystery about the place as we wonder how the Truffula forest, once teeming with wildlife and the dominant presence of the Lorax (the titular character), grew into such disrepair. The disappearance of the Lorax is a puzzle which is solved as events within the story unfold. With the use of colorful pictures that visually appeal to the young audience, the book attempts to create a sense of responsible use of resources and sustainable development around the imagined world of Truffula trees. Through its perusal, Seuss evokes a sense of eco consciousness in the readers as they empathize with the displacement and helplessness felt by the protagonists. The text, while managing to convey the gravity of the situation, reiterates the urgence to ‘promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems’ as per the Sustainable Development Goal 15. This paper aims to discuss how The Lorax seeks to challenge the anthropocentric point of view by replacing it with a deep ecological stance. This will be done by critically examining the role of the protagonists and analyzing how key incidents of the text compare to the real-life developments and contribute to the present-day scenario, keeping Nature as the focus.