Talk:Horton Hatches the Egg

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The moral of the story isn't "always keep your promises". It's "don't demand the result of someone else's work". Anyone? —msh210 22:47, 3 Nov 2004 (UTC)

I would say it's that perseverence and dedication pay off, so that you bear the fruits of your labours; and if you don't have that perseverence and dedication, you won't have anything to show for it. Having said that, I recently heard someone say it was about adoption - which makes some sense, though I doubt that was the intended meaning because it would cast natural parents in a highly negative light. Roger 22:35, 4 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Themes

I think that this article would benefit greatly if someone explored the implied racial overtones that were prevalent throughout most the story. Although not explicitly depicted, the elephant did copulate with the bird which becomes clear when they hatch at the end, being half elephant and half bird. Horton did not supply half the chromosomes solely by sitting on the eggs. We are clearly not given the full story here, which could be expected given Dr. Seuss' target audience, children. Other books written by Dr. Seuss had implicit political themes and messages that were not specifically geared towards children (The Lorax &You're Only Old Once! : A book for Obsolete Children are both excellent examples of this). Mayzie, the mother in this story, is your typical mother from the ghetto, clearly she had no intentions of raising her children and is only capable of making selfish decisions. Seuss was making a statement about the types of parents who willfully neglect their children, and are surprised when they grow up to be social outcasts (What niche could a half-bird, half-elephant possibly fill in nature?) or a product of government intervention (Would government be able to provide the same quality of upbringing as two caring parents?). The elephant, a symbol of the predominantly white Republican party, is the only party concerned for the welfare of the children. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.178.10.140 (talk) 20:36, 3 November 2007 (UTC)