My Final Icon Work (Blog 7)

The Spark

By: D’Vaughn McCrae

It only takes one spark to light a candle. There are certain things you remember as a kid that always seem to stick with you; whether that’s when you first learned how to ride a bike, or when you first went to school. Mine was learning how to read. Dr. Seuss was of the first authors I read when I was little. His stories taught me some of my most valuable life lessons.

Celebrate birthdays. In fact, celebrate the fact that you’re alive and unique every day. You could have been born something completely different, like some sort of bacteria, or blade of grass, or a potato. But you weren’t. Out of the billions and billions of other things you could have been, you were born as your own person. Always remember that, because “today you are you! That’s truer than true! There is no one alive who is you-er than you!” Even Oprah Winfrey told part of this to the world in her own words (“The more you praise and celebrate your life—the more there is in life to celebrate”). William Shakespeare’s character Hamlet, even said: “God has given you one face, and you make yourself another”. Everyone has more than one face. One that shows, and one that lies beneath the skin.

Turns out our eyes can only see the shallow features of a person upon first looking. You can’t judge a person based on what they were born with. No kind of person is better than another. Martin Luther King Jr. shared the goal of having people “live in a nation where they are not judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character”. Dr. Seuss put this more simply in his book The Sneetches: “Sneetches are Sneetches, and no kind of Sneetch is best on the beaches.” While Dr. Seuss’s words go against prejudice of any kind, both of these great influences embody the same beliefs. Hating people based on what they look like will get us nowhere.

Hate and weapons can only take you so far in life. In the end, happiness can only bring happiness, and hate can only bring hate. Guns inspire new guns, and can develop into bombs. There’s not much good that can come from using a more powerful weapon against an ‘enemy’. There’s no good in fighting someone because they’re different, especially when the difference is as small as what side of the toast you spread and eat your butter on. Dr. Seuss’s The Butter Battle Book not only relates to the development of nuclear weapons, but even reminded me of the current war going on between Iran and Israel. Dr. Seuss wrote about a war that had been going on for years and years over a difference of beliefs. Iran and Israel seem to be going through similar circumstances. The end of the book basically asks us how we can end these types of wars. It’s amazing that Dr. Seuss managed to get me to connect this to a children’s book.

Dr. Seuss wrote and drew for adults as well, sending out the thought of “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” to America. How Dr. Seuss managed to write and draw in a way both adults and children could understand is another mystery to me. I guess an adult can be as clueless as a kid, and a kid can be taught as well as an adult. Dr. Seuss helped me grow up to where I am now. I’m more confident in choosing my own paths and being able to understand what to do. Dr Seuss’s spark taught me that my opinion matters and it’s up to me to let the world know what I think in my own way. This goes for everyone. Now when I start to worry about my future, it’s easy for me to remind myself “You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself in any direction you choose. You're on your own. And you know what you know. You are the guy who'll decide where to go.”

Citations

"Quotes." Think Exist. Web. 8 Sept. 2009. .

"I Have a Dream Speech - Full text, audio & video of Martin Luther King Jr's most famous speech, I Have a Dream / Address at March on Washington." MLK Online - Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. speeches, pictures, quotes, biography, videos, information on MLK Day and more! Web. 7 Sept. 2009. .

"The Declaration of Independence - TEXT." Archiving Early America: Primary Source Material from 18th Century America. Web. 10 Sept. 2009. .

"Hamlet: Entire Play." The Complete Works of William Shakespeare. Web. 12 Sept. 2009. .

Dr., Seuss. Oh, the places you'll go! New York: Random House, 1990. Print.

Dr., The Butter Battle Book. New York: Random House Children's Books, 1984. Print.

Dr., Seuss. The Sneetches & Other Stories. New York: Random House Children's Books, 1961. Print.

Dr., Seuss. Happy Birthday To You! New York: Random House Children's Books, 1976. Print.