Should you feel guilty for loving 'The Cat in the Hat'? (Revisited)

© 1957 by Dr Seuss

“Having only a first-grade mind, I can recommend [The Cat in the Hat] as irresistible.”

— Los Angeles Times review, 1957

I initially posed this question in March 2019.

A heck of a lot has happened in the world since then, and discussions surrounding race and bigotry have become even more high profile. So I thought maybe it would be a good time to revisit my original article and ask once more: Should you feel guilty for loving The Cat in the Hat?

The Cat in the Hat is the ninth best-selling children’s book of all time! I often perform it when I visit schools. It is unashamedly joyful, with drama, suspense and a natural cadence. Put simply, it is (as the Cat himself would say), “lots of good fun that is funny.”

Perhaps a more pertinent question would be: Is The Cat in the Hat racist? There’s plenty of evidence to suggest that Dr Seuss spoke and behaved in ways that we would consider racist today. During World War II (before adopting the pen name ‘Dr Seuss’), Theodor Seuss Geisel worked as a political cartoonist.

 

Many of these [political] drawings featured racist portrayals of Japanese citizens and Japanese Americans. The cartoons ranged from stereotypical caricatures to fear-inducing propaganda that vilified people of Japanese descent and justified their internment.

- Kids Use 'Dr. Seuss Week' To Teach Classmates About His Racist Cartoons By Caroline Bologna (HuffPost, June 3 2017)

 

Seuss’ cartoons undeniably fueled racist attitudes, and helped gain public support for the incarceration of Japanese Americans in U.S. concentration camps. They are racist propaganda created in the context of a World War - and they are uncomfortable to look at.

They are also in the tradition of satirical, political cartoons. Does that excuse them, or make them OK?

No.

But do they make the iconic Cat in the Hat racist propaganda, too? Again, I would argue no.

Let me explain why.

To me, he’s simply a goofy-looking creature that (very loosely) resembles a cat (in a hat). The way he spins his umbrella, he reminds me of another clown, Charlie Chaplin. And Gene Kelly, as he sings in the rain. So personally, I’m cool with the Cat.

But critics of Seuss find the book problematic. They support Professor Philip Nel’s allegation in his book, Was the Cat in the Hat Black?, that the Cat’s appearance was ‘inspired by blackface performance, racist images in popular culture, and actual African Americans.’ Nel’s work sparked further study, leading scholars to conclude that Seuss’s Cat transmits ‘anti-Black, and White supremacist messaging through allegories and symbolism.’ (St. Catherine University’s Research on Diversity in Youth Literature.)

 However, a recent (and highly praised) biography of Dr Seuss reveals that his beloved creation was inspired by two culturally significant feline characters:

The syndicated Krazy Kat (‘all the way down to a red bow tie’)

And Felix the Cat (‘Geisel’s cat would walk and act with a similar swagger and confidence’).

 

These characters are, as with many cultural markers from the time, not without their own controversies.

But their influence is undeniable. (Blackface performers, less so.)

 

Krazy Kat by George Herriman (Public Domain) | Source: openculture.com

Felix the Cat by Pat Sullivan | Source: icollector.com

 

‘Claims that the Cat’s physical attributes mirror blackface performers seems a bit tenuous to me,’ I wrote in my original article. Maybe Seuss was inspired by those acts. (He is known to have written and performed in minstrel shows himself.) Perhaps (as is claimed) the elevator operator at HarperCollins was the source for the Cat’s ‘white gloves... sly smile, and... color’. But does that make the Cat - as a character - offensive?

Personally, I think saying that the Cat in the Hat reinforces/perpetuates racist stereotypes is far fetched - and claiming so is forcing an agenda. Ironically, that only serves to dilute the real issue. Yes, there is a problem: Society is racially biased to favour White people, resulting in a dire lack of diversity. Sadly, the publishing industry (including the world of children’s books) is not exempt. Which is why there is a clarion call - not only to diversify the characters that feature in picture books - but also to create opportunities so that the workforce is more diverse - from the top down. 

 

© 1957 by Dr Seuss

SO SHOULD YOU FEEL GUILTY FOR LOVING THE CAT IN THE HAT? 

I don’t think so. The reason it’s so popular and enduring is simple. It’s a great story that warrants more than one reading. 

Professor Philip Nel, of Kansas State University, would disagree: ‘“I don’t think nostalgia is a defense. Affection is not a defense,” he told Education Week. However, I do agree with Nel when he says, “What you have to do is take a deep breath, step back, and realize that the culture in which these books live and in which these books were written is a racist culture and a sexist culture.”

The culture the professor refers to (late 1950s America) is sixty years in our past. If we want things to change (and let’s face it, there are some ugly similarities) we must have these discussions. And sometimes they are uncomfortable.

But we must be brave.

Then we must allow the lessons learned to inform and guide our decisions.

Picture books are powerful tools. Why? Because they help shape the minds of the future. So if we want the future to be inclusive and diverse, then picture books are a good place to start implementing the change.

The Cat in the Hat continues to be successful because it is Good to Read.

I’m not simply being nostalgic. I’m appealing to common sense.

So please - let’s not throw out the cat and the cup and the milk and the cake with the bathwater. 

Because I, for one, would miss him.

read my original article: Should you feel guilty for loving The Cat in the Hat ?SOURCESTHE CAT IN THE HAT 40TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION BY DR. SEUSS (HARPERCOLLINS 1997) Should you feel guilty for loving the Cat in the Hat? by Tim Warnes (My Life in Books, March 15, 2019)Becoming Dr Seuss: Theodor Geisel and the Making of an American Imagination by Brian Jay Jones (Dutton, 2019) Kids Use 'Dr. Seuss Week' To Teach Classmates About His Racist Cartoons By Caroline Bologna (HuffPost, June 03, 2017) THE CAT IS OUT OF THE BAG: ORIENTALISM, ANTI- BLACKNESS, AND WHITE SUPREMACY IN DR. SEUSS’S CHILDREN’S BOOKS  - by KATIE ISHIZUKA AND RAMON STEPHENS (Research on Diversity in Youth Literature: Vol.1, Issue 2, Article 4, Feb 2019)The fascinating story of how Theodor Geisel, a.k.a. Dr. Seuss, created The Cat in the Hat By  David Canfield  (entertainment Weekly, May 02, 2019)Was the Cat in the Hat Black?: Exploring Dr. Seuss’s Racial Imagination, by Philip Nel (John Hopkins University Press, 2014)Dr Seuss Books Like Horton Hears a Who! Branded Racist and Problematic in New Study By Sam Gillette (People.com, February 28, 2019)WIKIPEDIA