Sam Murphy

Professor Ouderkirk

10/1/20

English

The Lorax is an animated piece of cinematography based on the book by Dr. Seuss. Made in 2012, the movie portrays a good theme throughout the plot.  The film reinforced the Goal of Life On Land to symbolize how important trees are and why they are needed.  Through the use of rhetorical devices such as pathos and ethos throughout the film, the director was able to portray the importance of trees and why we should do our best to protect the environment.

      The Lorax takes place in a small town named Thneedville. Created by O’hare once the truffula biome was exterminated, he has convinced the people in his town that they don’t need trees and they can just buy air. Just like the billion dollar invention that is  O’Hare air, everything is artificial and bought, nothing is authentic. Once a young boy named Ted was informed that there was a world with trees, he goes to find a man named the Once Ler who is said to have all the answers. He finds him outside the town and in a house all alone. Once Ler tells Ted his story. He came to the biome looking to sell his own invention the Thneed, but needed the fabric from a truffula tree to make it. After he had cut down the first tree, the Lorax appeared from a strike of lightning.The lorax advocated the effect on the animals’ ecosystem and environment by cutting down trees. Once Ler didn’t listen and cut down every truffula tree in the forest. The water and air pollution got so bad that all the animals in the forest had to migrate to a new home. Thus allowing O’hare air to be born and bought by everyone in Thneedville, since trees could no longer kill the Carbon Dioxide in the air. Ted came back to town with the intention of planting a tree and starting anew. He convinced the town about the importance of trees and with the help of Audrey and his grandmother, he was able to plant the tree and begin a new truffula biome..

     Overall, the movie was very effective at showing the goal of Life On Land. When the Once Ler was making Thneeds, he was causing extreme environmental problems with his factories. The movie did a good job of portraying the importance of trees not only on the environment, but many different animals. Once all trees were exterminated the air was extremely polluted causing the removal; of  feathers off the Swomee Swans, and caused gunk to be  released into the water which killed most of the fish. Also, it did a great job of reflecting what the Once Ler actually did to the biome. After all the trees were cut down  it was a completely dark and gloomy setting. All the animals have had to migrate to a safer environment and besides the Once Ler, there is no sign of life, all but short tree stumps. But when the Once Ler first  tells his story, the biome is so brightly colorful and full of life. This before and after setting shows how important trees are to the environment. It supports what would happen to nature and society without the use of clean air. Also it shows the resulting effects it would have on all life in the environment. The portrayal of the setting gave off a good impression on the significance of trees and what can happen if they were to go extinct.

     This  movie supports the rhetorical appeals of ethos and pathos to represent the goal of Life On Land. The use of the Lorax in the film is a representation of ethos. He is an advocate for the trees and he constantly says, “I speak for the trees.”He is brought upon after the first tree was cut down by the Onceler and made him promise to not cut down anymore. This gives him credibility and authority as a speaker. He is the symbolization of trees and renders why they not only need to be preserved, but protected. The Lorax is constantly reminding him to stop cutting down trees and reminds the Onceler the promise he made  to him. Pathos is another rhetorical device that is depicted in the movie.  Pathos  is used by appealing to the audience from going to a deforestation biome, to a town full of artificial commodities. It  can try to connect the audience by showing everything that is going and happening  here, isn’t necessarily the same outside the walls. It shows you what life is like without trees, and how fake and unauthentic society is. Another form of pathos that is used  is the animals walking away in a line from their natural habitat. Showing the animals walking away all together in a depressed manner could  make anybody feel some type of way.  This connects to the audience because it tries to make them feel very sorrowful  for the animals as they try and find a new safer home.  It also makes them  feel anger towards the Once Ler because of what he did to this environment. Through the use of both of these rhetorical appeals, The significance of trees is established and why they need to be preserved and reflects the goal of Life On Land.

     Life on Land is an extremely important goal that supports the preservation and safety of the environment. The Lorax did a very good job of demonstrating this goal through the use of ethos and pathos. It proved that without trees in society no one can survive without buying air. All animals must be forced to live somewhere where there are trees and if we don’t do our part to protect the environment, everything will just become an artificial commodity.