SATIRE: The Insidious Ideology Lurking in a Dr. Seuss Classic

A tongue-in-cheek reading of "Fox in Socks" from guest blogger Ted Shideler

“Fox…Sox…Box…Knox…” With this stirring introduction, Dr. Seuss opened his thinly-veiled Marxist propaganda of Fox in Socks, as an opiate for the masses of children who’ve read the famous story as of its first publishing in 1965. Seuss, the nom-de-plume of Theodore Geisel, a violator of Prohibition laws as well as a phony doctor, paved the way for translucently-disguised political brainwashing throughout his career. As an extremist, Dr. Seuss’s prescription for radical politics was also apparent in his support for radical environmentalism as exhibited in The Lorax as well as his interest in sweeping overthrow of the American political system, seen -amongst other works- in Marvin K. Mooney Will You Please Go Now, a self-acknowledged critique of the presidency of Richard M. Nixon.

Given Seuss’s evident penchant for the political diatribe, it is not surprising to the inquisitive reader that the author utilizes three specific instances in Fox in Socks to push the idea of downright Marxism. The continual oppressive domination of the Bourgeois class over the proletariat is a constant theme through the book as exhibited through physical, intellectual, and emotional domination. It unites with multiple illustrations to construct a unique form of Marxist punditry that only Seuss could engineer.

Fox’s domination of Knox is clearly an example of the Bourgeois’s asserted supremacy over the common man. As early as page six, Seuss draws, in a shadowy corner, a dancing Fox on top of Knox, who exhibits a box draped over his droopy-eyed cranium- an obvious allusion to the dominance over the upper class to the downtrodden, who are forced to sleep in the boxes that, most likely, were constructed for the purpose of holding Fox’s socks, which have now been returned to the street in a twisted example of clueless charity for a simple tax write-off.

Another example of Fox’s physical ascendancy over Knox is on pages 10 and 11, where Fox makes a “quick trick brick stack,” as well as a “quick trick block stack.” These two free-standing towers stand opposing Knox’s “quick trick chick stack,” and “quick trick clock stack,” which are made with noticeably fewer resources than their Bourgeoisie counterparts. The construction of large edifices and palaces were commonplace in Soviet society, for example, resulting in the building of the “Seven Sisters,” huge, similarly-designed skyscrapers built during Stalin’s reign that any architecture buff has a wide-range of knowledge about. Surely this is more than coincidence.

Furthermore, on page 22, Slow Joe Crow, a sharply-dressed fowl, flies into town. Crow, who like Fox is able to afford actual clothes, has the same political persuasion as his carnivorous counterpart, wasting no time in forcibly sewing Knox into his box, a remarkable example of restricting the proletariat to a life of both economic and physical repression. Given Crow’s and Fox’s status as easily-identifiable creatures, this may give a reader insight into the societal constructs of the Seussical world, where those characters based on actual animals take control over those that resemble, say, a dog-man wearing a yellow cardigan, as Knox so does.

However, it is not simply physical repression that Fox and Crow assert over Knox. Fox emphasizes his intellectual power with his confounding liberal rhetoric, forcing Knox to cry out on page 44, “I can’t blab such blibber blubber! My tongue isn’t made of rubber.” Fox further redirects the conversation to more inane banter, in his attempts to fool the proletariat with his meaningless doublespeak:

Through three cheese trees

three free fleas flew.

While these fleas flew,

freezy breeze blew.

Freezy breeze made

these three trees freeze.

Freezy trees made

these trees’ cheese freeze.

That’s what made these

three free fleas sneeze. (Seuss, 47)

This clear example of intellectual hegemony is yet another instance of one-sided relationship between castes.

Seuss’s masterpiece Fox In Socks illustrates the plight of the downtrodden proletariat. However, at the end of the tome, Knox rises up and shoves the “fuddled wuddled” Fox into a large bottle full of paddle-brandishing tweetle beetles. This largely symbolic gesture accentuates an underlying feeling of hope revisited through the book, an idea that, no matter how difficult things get for the workingman, there always remains an opportunity to stand up and turn the system around. Walking down a set of lavender stairs on page 61, Knox declares, “Fox in socks, our game is done, sir. Thank you for a lot of fun, sir,” leaving Fox, the tweetle beetles, a poodle, and its bowl of noodles doubtlessly contemplating their own insignificance as the tables have finally been turned.

Dr. Seuss’s influence has, without question, stood the test of time, and his ventures have withstood his physical demise. Given his strong support of Marxism and all that it entails, if Seuss knew how vital he remains to today’s global capitalistic pursuits, he would probably spin in his grave. Surprisingly, though, Seuss lacked the total tenacity of a typical, even stereotypical Marxist, saying on the first page of Fox In Socks, to “Take it SLOWLY,” and that, “this book is DANGEROUS,” in large, cartoonish, writing. But although the semantics of the story might be reduced to the level of an average child learning to read, the message is still loud and clear to the intrepid intellectual: Fox In Socks remains an example of Marxist ideology through its illustration of the intellectual, physical, and emotional domination of the proletariat by the Bourgeois class.

~ Ted Shideler

Editor's Note: Yes, Ted Shideler is my brother! What can I say, we come by it honestly, with parents who were both teachers, professors, and writers! If you're interested in more of Ted's writing, visit his blog at www.tedshideler.com.

Sally Shideler

Managing Editor, God of the Desert Books

Chief Editor-in-Chief Wrangler