Shoot for the Moon

Shoot for the Moon
An Essay
Kirsten Peterson, Katrya Bolger and Brittany Graham

Some say that children see the simple truth of things. The same could be said for much of children’s literature. The Dr. Seuss books, those staples of bedtime stories, rather buck the trend. Certainly, you remember their silly rhymes and their black pen cartoons. They appear absurdly simple. As it turns out, the Dr. Seuss stories are a good deal more complicated, than say, various vampire novels aimed at preteens. Given how comparable their content is to our lives, Dr. Seuss can be considered to have had a very shrewd idea of human nature.

With his story “Yertle the Turtle”, Seuss shows us that when faced with a poor leader, we have a tendency to combine a large amount of inaction with an equally large amount of complaining. How many times have you seen Harper on th news and sighed? That is the problem that Seuss attempts to bring to our attention: we do nothing but sigh. In the story, all the turtles need is to refuse to cooperate and Yertle’s power would be broken. Leaders are a focal point for power but it is we who supply it in the first place, by supporting them. We should be, and are totally able to be, more forceful in influencing how our collective power is used.

Seuss shows that the leader's policy needs to directly affect our lives before we take action. Injustice, widespread suffering and rampant corruption are all to be regretted, but so long as they happen to strangers, we sympathize briefly and then continue with life. When Yertle commands nine turtles to build him a throne of themselves, there is no resistance in the community. It’s only when he orders his throne higher by two hundred turtles that the turtle at the bottom, Mack, is pressed into action. Faced with his shell cracking, Mack has no choice and has the perceived support of the majority.

The idea that a single event acts as a catalyst does not exist solely in Seuss’ children’s stories. In Nepal, King Gyanendra was overthrown for his abolition of the country’s parliament. The widespread offence to anyone who had voted caused huge retaliation. Between his initial crowning in 2001 and his seizure of Parliament in 2005 (BBC, 2008), Gyanendra was largely uncontested because he never did anything major enough to unite the whole country against him. Until his dismissal of parliament, that is. As King Gyanendra and Dr. Seuss’ Yertle demonstrate, it takes an event of magnitude in order for us to find the initiative to withdraw the support associated with a wayward leader.

Once the catalyst occurs, a new leader can manoeuvre to give focus and direction to all the dissatisfied. Mack performed this task for the turtles by uniting them in the statement: “down here below, we are feeling great pain”. Had it not been for Mack, their passive acceptance may have carried Yertle to the moon. Prachanda, leader of the Maoists in Nepal, also took it upon himself to voice the concerns of the majority, rural Nepalese. They have, ostensibly, been ignored by the king, as poor uneducated people unlikely to vote. Prachanda was willing to articulate their concerns in violence and rhetoric, highly appealing to those who have been disregarded too often and too long.

After his successful topple of the King Yertle, Mack becomes a figure of authority. While the book ends without Mack having used his power inappropriately, the fact remains that he profited most. The original problem of the king having a throne and being lord of all he surveys hasn’t been addressed.

Outside the realm of children's literature, King Gyanendra also betrayed his nation’s confidence, much as Yertle did. In doing this, he allowed the Maoist campaign to gain credibility and sympathy. Gyanendra took control of Nepal’s parliament because the guerrilla war in rural Nepal was intensifying. (Perry, 2004). However, the people’s impression was that he was greedy for power, and the ensuing demonstrations were among the largest Nepal has ever seen (BBC, 2008). A reversal of power occurred, with the king usurped by a schoolteacher, initiated and supported by the people. The people of Nepal have yet to see any marked changes in their lives, instead, things have gotten worse.

The new Prime Minister, Prachanda, is already using his influence inappropriately. He has been known to promote his personal interests before those of his constituents, having his daughter, Ganga, within his interim cabinet (Sarkar, 2008). As Mack did, Prachanda began at a lower rung in society; he was born in a rise paddy field. He has risen to control the people, those same people he once swore to liberate from oppression (Chandrasekharan, 2005). If Prachanda fails to meet the people’s expectations, “public euphoria will not last long” (Nepal: The Rocky Red Road, 2008). Thus the power cycle comes full circle, without much preventative change.

We do need leaders as a focus of power. The cohesiveness necessary to take action cannot be made without a driving force. However, once a “focus of power” has been established, it is necessary for us to evaluate its effectiveness in representing us. As can be seen in both “Yertle the Turtle” and Nepal, neither group demands different behaviour of their new leaders. Mack is sitting on Yertle’s same rock! And Prachanda, who presumably lives much better than the average Nepali, still insinuates in his speeches that he is “one of the people”. He was one of the people.

In writing a storybook about a dictatorship, Dr. Seuss was doing more than trying to put children to sleep. With his message that even the most inconsequential could influence power, he was trying to force us into action. The power that any leader holds derives from our support, therefore we should be able to direct its use. It’s excusable that turtles may not have the foresight, but as humans we ought to be able to grasp the concept Dr. Seuss thought simple enough to include in a children’s book.

Editorial Cartoon

Here is the group's editorial cartoon!

Journal Jan 19.

The essay is finally on paper, although rather skeletal. The opinions supporting the group's thesis have been put into words, although roughly. Some new paragraphs were added today, many posessing a more abstract relationship to the thesis, including a paragraph on the necessity of leaders as a focus of the power of a collective. Tomorrow will be dedicated to revising the essay in terms of style. At the moment, it is convincing, however it is not particulary captivating. As of yet, the group is uncertain as to how this can be acheived.

The cartoon has also been drawn. It includes a portrait of Yertle with Gyanendra's head peice, perched atop a stack of turtles. Their backs read peace, prosperity and eqaulity, all aspects of Nepalese society oppressed duing Gyanendra's short reign. The last King of Nepal's famous quote, "I will not be a silent King," is also included. This bring in a touch of irony, as it is commemorative portrait, and so clearly, he has been silence.

The other aspect of the cartoon includes Prachanda, wearing his decorative necklaces as Mack, striving for Yertle's rock. He is chained to the other turtles, dragging them behind him. This shows two things, that Prachanda is bound by the promises he made to arrive in power and that the other turtles are no more free than they were under Yertle. Rather than being stood on, they are simply chained.

Journal January 16th

Today is a quiet day as Kirsten and Brittany are off skiing. Katrya spent her time rifling through the sources to find pieces of information relating directly to the thesis of the group's essay. This weekend, she will begin taking these sources and putting together the annotated bibliography, in which she must justify the usage of each particular source. In order to do so, she'll need to know which sources Kirsten and Brittany have used in their essay as they continue to draft.

Yesterday was also a productive in terms of the cartoon. Brittany and Katrya discussed how the situation in Nepal could translate to a cartoon, concluding the class with a handful of potential ideas. In addition, they attempted to identify characteristics to distinguish the characters to be featured in the cartoon. It was decided that King Gyanendra would be shown through his fancy headwear while Prachanda's appearance they still could not determine. However, there will no doubt be further discussion on this matter.

Happy weekend!

Journal January 15th

Essay mode is officially in motion. With a decisive thesis and a greater understanding of their objectives, Kirsten, Katrya and Brittany are ready to work on putting their research into a 1,000 word essay. Now, it's a matter of sifting through the sources and identifying the information that will best convey that those who are the first to initiate change will benefit the most, in spite of the collective power of a group.

It was when the group looked closely at a page of the picture book that they discovered a new detail, which ignited their interest. On the last page of the book, there is a picture of the Kingdom in the aftermath of Yertle's rule. While Yertle is in the mud, Mack is perched upon a stone (a.k.a. the throne) while the other turtles smile on at Mack. The group noticed that, while Mack posed royally on the throne, the other turtles remained in the mud. This picture alone managed to inspire the group to pursue their new thesis, suggesting that the one to articulate the change will have a superior outcome to that of the other turtles.

Read for more essay updates, a cartoon and an annotated bibliography.

Journal January 14th

With a little less than 3 days and a weekend, the group is striving to finish a first draft of their essay. In this class, the thesis has effectively been changed to create a stronger, more defined essay. The new thesis is:

"The power of a group comes from a collective whole but those who articulate the power end up benefiting the most."

In their essay, they plan to prove:

- King Gyanendra and Yertle used the support of their subjects to increase their control of their Kingdom. Yertle's calling more turtles was parallel to Gyanendra's abolition of the elected government in 2005. Ultimately, this benefitted him more than the people he was meant to work for.

- They will include a paragraph comparing Mack and Maoist leader, Prachanda. How they lead a revolution to hold the masses but ended up with much more benefit than a common member of the group. There were no initial attempts to profit but they did.

That being said, the group will continue to work away!

Journal Jan. 12th/13th

Having had two short short periods in a row, the group decided that they would simply continue their discussion from the 12th into the 13th. To begin with, they began to refine their thesis. Then, they proceeded to better determine the main arguments that they would address in their comparative essay, drawing from the sources they found. By the end of the class, they successfully formed a list demonstrating the outline of the essay - naming the specific evidence.

Following this, the discussion shifted towards the editorial cartoon. Brittany agreed to take care of the cartoon, thus ensued the question: How can we take what we know about the situation in Nepal and transfer it to an editorial cartoon? In the last page of the book, the group identified a picture which showed Yertle's kingdom, returning to its once peaceful state. Yertle is positioned at the bottom right corner, perched on a rock, with the other turtles surrounding him. The group was inspired to replace the faces of the characters in Yertle the Turtle with the individuals involved in the fall of the last Nepali monarchy. For one, Yertle would be replaced by King Gyanendra while Mack would be replaced by Maoist leader, Prachranda. This would show the shift in power in the situation.

To be continued!