Hop on Pop: A Realtime Analysis Part 2 In our last venture we explored the strange spatial reality Geisel created with his use of a grotesque dogbeast and its varying sizes. A regret I have, besides a point discussed in the comments of my previous post, is that I did not put enough stock into the words themselves and focused entirely on the visuals. In a way, I was transformed into a member of the target audience. Babbling, focused on the colorful images rather than properly absorbing and deconstructing the words before me. I'll endeavor to do better this time and accept any and all flogging I have earned for my lackluster initial post. MOUSE HOUSE Mouse on house. The prose is constructed of rhyming couplets in the most literal manner. The words are presented, then placed in context. A mouse is certainly upon a house. It lacks any discernable arms but then who am I to judge? A mouse on a house is not inconceivable, but it makes one wonder how it got there. Did it climb? Was it dropped there? Transportalized? And why? Surely there's nothing for the mouse up there. Perhaps the answer is "because it is there". How noble. Or ignominious, depending on your preferences. HOUSE MOUSE House on mouse. How quickly Geisel brings us to the absurd. The mouse, arms now visible, has picked up the house and runs with it. The house is, indeed, on the mouse, yet the mouse remains the actor. In both instances, the mouse has agency and is in control, so it would seem; no matter which appears "on top" one maintains the power in the dynamic. Also of note is the strength of the mouse. The mangrit on display would make a Schwarzenegger blush and a ROUS squeal with envy. Not only does it lift the house with no sign of exertion, it runs quite quickly with it. Where is it taking the house? Towards what end? Again, we can read foreknowledge into this. Climb to the top of the house, the house will be taken by forces you thought you could control... Curious. ALL TALL We all are tall. You're breaking new ground here Geisel. Four entire words in one sentence? Are you sure your readers will be able to keep up? So. We all are tall. Who is we? The illustration implies it is the set of four humanoids clad in orange jumpsuits. The ambiguity remains. Everyone? Is the reader contained in we? Given the target audience we can presume not. But what if the reader is the guardian of the child? Then the reader may very well be tall, at least compared to the child. More on this after the next couplet. ALL SMALL We all are small. Riveting stuff, I know. Up there with Shakespeare and James. Again, the illustration presents us with a gaggle of four, also in orange. The youthful reader will find more to see themself in here. We all are tall. We all are small. Not "we are all tall". Not "we are all small". We all. All is encompassing. We all are tall *and* small. Four who are tall, four who are small, yet all in all, all are smtall. Geisel, just what did you know about the scratch? The author continues to tease us with his knowledge of what was to come, or whatever visions haunted his nightmares that needed to escape onto the pages and disseminated to impressionable young readers. Who benefits? Who gains something from the instruction to climb up the house, to move the house, to understand that the group of eight all are tall and small. Did he know ball? #HopOnPop #FreudianAnalysis #Unconstruction #TheHerosJourney #TheHeroesJourney #NoMyLittlePonyMention #UnrealisticPortrayalsOfMice #UnrealisticHeightStandards #Reality #Irreality Seuss, Dr. 2004. Hop On Pop. Random House.
