Commentary-Green Eggs and Ham

What follows is a discourse on how Dr. Seuss created an allegory to the story of man's fall from grace in the Garden of Eden in his book Green Eggs and Ham.

Firstly, a note must be made about the writing style that Seuss' elected to use for this story. The way that Seuss compiles his work is in a rhyming, poetic form. This could be a mock-allusion to Dante's Inferno, an epic poem, which would foreshadow the protagonist's fall.

In the beginning of the story, Sam rides by first with a sign that says, "I am Sam" (3). This is proper. However, the sign is then changed to "Sam I Am" (7). From this point on, Sam is referred to as Sam-I-Am. This serves to reiterate the backwards nature of Sam, throughout the text. Sam is the only creature that provides contradiction in the story, and he represents the serpent in the tale of Garden of Eden.

The protagonist does not have a name. There are no other people of the protagonist's type in the story, and that is why the protagonist is nameless. When Adam was the sole human, he had no use for a name because there was no one to address him by that name. The protagonist simply addresses himself as "I" (9). The protagonist is also a simple being, expressing only emotions of like and dislike, but no thought process. For example, the protagonist expresses a state of dislike 31 times in the text simply with the phrase "I do not like." The repetition emphasizes the fact that the protagonist is much like an early human, with an undeveloped brain capacity.

The fact that Seuss restates that the protagonist expresses a dislike towards the Green eggs and ham using the words "would not" "could not" and "do not" excessively, and still ultimately via whatever medium, man was destined to give in to temptation, and that God had made him in that fashion: flawed.

Throughout the story, Sam tempts the protagonist with transportation. This is an allusion to forward progress. On page 26, the protagonist is tempted with a car. When it comes to page 33, Sam tempts the protagonist again, by asking "Would you, could you, on a train?" Again, the last allusion to transportation comes later, when the protagonist is tempted with "a boat" (44). Sam seems to promise that the only way that the protagonist will be able to advance is to eat of the Green eggs and ham. The protagonist fails to realize that this forward progression will cause his downfall. Seuss alludes to this downfall, when the boat sinks on pages 48 and 49.

It shows that Sam is the antithesis of what is supposed to be present in the setting, where everything is in harmony. This emits the idea of being the Garden of Eden. The inhabitants of the garden are always content. Take, for example, the fact that, every animal in the story is portrayed as content, even after they are all in the water after the boat has sunk. This can be seen on pages 48 and 49, as shown above. Also, as stated before, the protagonist is the only type of his species. Related to the animals, he is about average human male height (this can be seen when his height is compared with that of the fox, mouse, and goat) with very humanlike features: walks upright, has a neck, ears, facial hair, and two arms and two legs. This must be taken note, as many of the creatures in Seuss' books are often very exaggerated, but this one seems to relate closely to a human. The only other creatures are animals. The mouse, introduced on page 19, the fox on page 23, and, finally, the goat on page 42. In the book, Sam also tempts the protagonist "in a tree" (28). This tree is undoubtedly an allusion to the Tree of Knowledge in the Garden of Eden. Just as the tree is in the middle of the Garden of Eden, the tree in Seuss' book is centered in the middle of Seuss' story-it is displayed on pages 28-33 of 62.

Ironically, Seuss uses Sam to provide an idea about the Garden of Eden. Sam tempts the protagonist to eat the Green eggs and ham "in a box" (22). Sam believes that Eden is a limited world that does not encompass all of human potential, but the protagonist seems to be content with it. Thus, Sam assumes that the protagonist will be content eating the Green eggs and ham "in a box" (22), a microcosm for the Garden of Eden.

Also, Seuss provides some dark imagery to foreshadow the acceptance of temptation by the protagonist. Right before the protagonist gives in, the train they are traveling on goes into a tunnel, and Sam asks the protagonist if he would eat the Green eggs and ham "in the dark" (36). Again, the protagonist refuses, but the tunnel scene hints at what is to come.

But, overall, the Green eggs and ham are one of the key allusions themselves. They serve to complete the reference to the story of man's temptation in the Garden of Eden. Sam uses these as the key element to tempt the protagonist. The Green eggs and ham are undoubtedly the forbidden fruit of the Tree of Knowledge. The fact that the eggs and ham are "green" (10) gives the idea that the food is spoiled. Just as the food is spoiled, it will spoil he who ingests it. In this way, Seuss shows that when the protagonist eats the "forbidden fruit," he will become tainted.

Seuss ultimately provides two possible conclusions, but leaves the book open to interpretation. At the end, after the protagonist has fallen from grace, both the protagonist and Sam are content and cooperative. This may signify that ultimately, man is happy with his choice of falling from grace. But, on the same token, it may represent the fact that the protagonist really does not know the repercussions of his actions, and so he is forced to accept them anyhow. Ultimately, he is content with this.