I went to see “Horton Hears a Who” the other day with the kids and some of their friends. While this may seem to be just another children’s movie on the surface, there is actually a much deeper message in Horton that we must communicate to our children and others around us. I very rarely say this about a film because most films are not worth the time spent to watch them, but it looks like God is speaking to a generation through Horton. Read on to see why.
In the book, Horton is protecting a tiny group of people that no one else can hear.No one else believes they exist as real people because they cannot see them or hear them and so they persecute Horton who can hear them and tries to protect them. Horton, on the other hand, protects them with the motto, “A person’s a person no matter how small.” I think you can see very clearly where this is going. The “Who’s,” blissfully ignorant of how small they are and the fact that the big world outside does not believe they exist and would just as quickly destroy their home as protect it, clearly symbolize the unborn. You can see the analogy in the popular media as abortion proponents continually argue that the “unborn fetus” (i.e. baby) is not really a person. Why is it not a person? Science has proven that the unborn baby has brain waves, a heart beat, and it can move and feel. There is just one thing an unborn child cannot do and that is speak so that you and I can hear it.
While the tiny Who’s symbolize the unborn, Horton then can be a symbol of a life movement that is willing to pay any price from mere ridicule, to personal loss, to protect the lives that no one else believes in. In the film, Horton drops everything and focuses himself on protecting the Who’s even at his own personal expense and even when no one else believes it is worth it.Check out these two excerpts to hear Lou Engle speak about the significance of the film:
Because the message is getting out about the symbolism of the film and because there were some pro-life demonstrations at the opening, much has been made about the fact that Dr. Suess did not write the film as an allegory for the life message. While that is no doubt probably true seeing as the book was written long before abortion was legal or even common, that does not mean that God cannot divinely take the message of the book and use it to speak to a generation.Regardless of what Dr. Suess’s intentions were, the book can be used as an excellent tool to teach children the value of life in a presentation that is on their level. The message gets even more profound if you read the second Horton book, “Horton Hatches the Egg.” In this book, Horton finds a bird who does not want to be bothered by the responsibility of sitting on a nest and hatching an egg, so Horton agrees to sit on the egg. While the bird selfishly relaxes far away, Horton endures all sorts of trials to protect the egg and make sure it hatches.
When you put these two books together, you get a very profound messages. First, we must protect all life because, “A person’s a person no matter how small.” Then, the second book gets to the root of the abortion issue and that is the issue of selfishness compared with sacrifice and responsibility. Like Horton, in an age that disregards life, we are called to sacrifice with the spirit of adoption to save a generation whose parents will abandon them for their own personal pleasure. Regardless of what the intent of the original books was, these messages are very clear in the books and thankfully the message comes through in the film as well. For that reason, these books can be used to help enforce the values that are being instilled in our children through a resource that is very much on their level.
Now for the only negative parts. The film is not perfect. In the film Horton is ridiculed and called names that are not in the book. This is a sign of our times and I seriously doubt most children or parents will even blink an eye, but as God reveals to me more and more the power and significance of our words, it is sad to see our language slowly grow more crass even on a production aimed at children.The film also takes a cheap shot at home schooling. The chief villain in the film, the kangaroo, early on declares that her child is “pouch schooled.” It’s clearly a dig at home schoolers that is unnecessary. In fact, I have read a few reviewers who felt like the film makers were trying to make the kangaroo look like a rigid, home schooling fundamentalist that is out to oppose the free thinking Horton. While I can see how they come to that vantage point, if the “pouch school” comment was taken out I do not think you would get that impression.
With those negatives being said, I still believe that God is speaking to the nation through this film. As the film was produced by unbelievers it is not perfect, so it should not be analyzed as a Christian film, but that does not mean that God cannot speak clearly through it. Sometimes we go too far and try to see God in all sorts of films that we should be embarrassed to even see, much less promote, and other times we miss something God is saying because the package is not perfect.
All in all, I think we should promote the film, and make sure we promote the message to others. Many will walk out of Horton without giving the message a second thought, but if we spread the message of the obvious symbolism in the movie and the value that, “A person’s a person no matter how small,” we may find adults that would never consider the life message beginning to re-consider their values. Sometimes taking a truth and presenting it through from a child’s presentation can make the truth hit home in a way that other presentations do not. After the film, also make sure the sit down with your children and the book and make sure they get the message. Then follow it up with “Horton Hatches the Egg” and you will have some great material for teaching children the value of life, sacrifice, love, and responsibility.
I am a 12th grader and for my Avanced Placement English class we read Horton Hears a Who! initially i thought why would we read a childs story, but my teacher wanted us to find the deeper meaning. after pondering what could be the deeper meaning it amazed me to see that not only did dr. suess craft an enjoyable childs story, but he addressed the very controversial topic of abortion. i myself do not support abortion and when i watched the clip above i felt compelled to comment. Anyone who reads this comment i hope you feel as inspired to post a comment against abortion. “a person is a person no matter how small” was the theme of the story and when voices rise in unity expressing the same belief and pushing for change, change does happen, but we need to unite and raise our voices. By posting one simple blog here your voice will be heard. Try it.
An excellent point. Not only is a “person a person, no matter how small” in the sense of their intrinsic worth, it took every who is who-ville to make the who’s heard. In that sense, each one of us is a voice, no matter how small. Make your voice heard and you change the world. Giants can fall when David’s that are willing to sacrifice begin to speak up. Think of any major societal revolution and it’s always either the voice of one or the voice a small, passionate group that dares to bring change while the majority ignores their heart and assumes things can never change.
Don’t every forget, “A voice is a voice, no matter how small.”
Dr. Seuss is classic; after seeing Horton Hears a Who i was reminded how much that guy can pack into a simple storyline… they didn’t add much to the original story either except for the usual Jim Carreyisms.
I’m a Christian (that is to say, I’m a follower of Christ, not just one who claims to be a Christian). However, when I saw the film, the whole time I was thinking about how Horton appeared to be God to the Who’s, and there was only one who believed, until the end. I couldn’t figure out what was happening with Horton though. I then read about how Dr. Seuss wrote it as an allegory, trying to convince the Japanese people to vote. In this case, the Who’s represent the Japanese people, and the people in the jungle represent the Government (not far off from the truth in most places, a lot of politicians are vicious beasts), and Horton was the one who actually listened. The fact that the Who’s weren’t heard until everyone made their voice heard really convinces me it’s more about voting. “A person is a person, no matter how small” makes perfect since in terms of voting as well.
This is what it means to Dr. Seuss, it still means to me that even though you may be ostracized, you still have to stand strong for what you believe. Many conclusions can be drawn. They all have relevance, that’s the beauty of symbolism, you make it what it means to you, and it’s different for everybody. If anyone wants to discuss pro-life, pro-choice, anti-choice, pro-death, anti-death, anti-life, or any of the various categories that get lumped into two, send me an email at adam.f.music(a)gmail.com
Just replace the (a) with an @ and it’s my real email, I do this to avoid spam programs from finding my email on websites.
I agree that Dr. Suess did not write the book for the issue of abortion. In fact, it wasn’t much of a public issue at the time he wrote it, so I agree there are definitely other allegories that can be pulled from the book and so far they are all very positive ones.
I also noticed the god-like way Horton was presented, but I did not really see the filmakers go anywhere with it.
Yes, they decided to make Horton into more of an accidental hero.
To the author: Just curious. How do you know that the producers are unbelievers?
I don’t necessarily know if the producers were or were not believers. My comment was to the effect that Horton was not a “Christian film” produced with a Christian message. It would be great if the producers were believers.
It is possible to a film to have an unintentional Christian message. In some cases, people have been spiritually moved and and transformed (I don’t particularly like the term converted) because of something they have written, the most famous of which is Handel’s Hallelujah Chorus.
Yes, God can amazingly use all sorts of things to draw men to repentance whether or not the thing was originally designed for that purpose. Eternity will be filled with the amazing stories of how God worked on the human heart is such a myriad of ways. Truly God’s creativity is on display in the way He speaks truth into the human heart.
Or…it could symbolize man’s struggle to prove existence of God.
Perhaps, but I don’t think the author was going for that. However, along those lines it does nicely illustrate is that man, thinking he is so wise when looking at his immediately surroundings, can be totally ignorant of God and that which is greater than his own tiny speck in the universe.
Whatever Dr. Seuss meant with the symbolism I’m not sure. The way that I saw it was that the Kangaroo represented the devil in trying to convince EVERYONE that if you can’t see, hear, or touch something that it doesn’t exist. Thus, trying to say that there wasn’t a God. Horton, I believe, represented Jesus. He wondered everywhere telling everyone that the Who’s were there and that HE would make sure to protect them. He had followers in the children that he spoke to until the Kangaroo interfered and told the parents that Horton was doing bad (while everyone knew he would never do wrong). The Kangaroo did everything in her power to stop Horton from saving the Whos. Horton endured many trials in order to save them including being called names, told that he wasn’t welcome back to the area where the children were, put into a crate, and beaten, etc… All the time protecting the Whos. The Whos would represent mankind. When every Who no matter how small all joined together (like a congregation) the can finally be heard and therefore SAVED. There are also messages of tolerance and forgiveness in this story.