The Sneetches Allegory

The Sneetches, on the outside it looks like the usual strange Dr. Seuss story, but in actuality could it be about something more? The Sneetches can easily be described as an allegory story. Hidden in the fun cartoons, and the wacky rhymes there is another meaning to the story. The way the star-bellied Sneetches treat the plain-bellied Sneetches easily resembles the way some people treat one another. “High class” versus “Low class”, black versus white, you could even go so far as to compare it to the superiority Hitler and The Nazis felt over Jewish people. In the beginning, the Sneetches are separated, star-bellies and plain-bellies. You see how the star-bellied Sneetches believe they are the best Sneetches there are, discriminating against the plain-bellied Sneetches simply because of their appearance. Sound familiar? Sounds an awful lot like how minorities have been treated in the past, and how some are being treated today. The star-bellied Sneetches refuse to let the plain-bellied Sneetches do anything with them because they are beneath the star-bellied Sneetches. Then along comes Sylvester McMonkey McBean. At first it appears that McBean plans on genuinely helping the plain-bellied Sneetches fit in. He charges them a small fee and gives them a star on their bellies. Once all the Sneetches have stars on their bellies, the original star-bellied Sneetches no longer want the stars on their bellies. Again, here comes McBean, offering a “solution” to the original star-bellied Sneetches. He charges them an even larger fee to remove their stars. You later see that McBean represents something more. You realize he is using their ignorance and prejudice to exploit them for his own financial gain. Again, sound like something you know? Everyone these days does that, they play off other people’s judgments and prejudices to gain something, usually money. Whether it is the media, store owners, major companies, anyone trying to sell a product or good. By the end of the story after the only person to benefit from McBean’s machines is himself, he says, “You can never teaches a Sneetches.” We are the Sneetches, we need to learn to stop judging each other and stick together. If we do that we will be stronger, and we won’t be taken advantage of by big, money-hungry corporations only after our money.