The meaning behind Green Eggs and Ham…
I am sure most of us have all read the Seussian classic Green Eggs and Ham. It is a fun childrens book that has a great rhyme to it. However, it is my opinion that there is a much deeper meaning to Green Eggs and Ham than just being a silly children’s book.
The book begins with Sam asking the Grinch a very simple question: Do you like Green Eggs and Ham? The Grinch immediately declares his dislike of Green Eggs and Ham without even giving them one thought! Sam then begins an incessant and creative list suggesting the places and scenarios where that the Grinch might want to try the strange sounding food, and simply will not take no for an answer. He stops at no length suggesting places where the Grinch might want to try the exotic dish: on a boat, with a goat, in the rain, on a train, in the dark, in a tree, in a house, with a mouse, in a box with a fox, here, there, anywhere? The more ways Sam suggests to the Grinch that he try the food, the more adamant the Grinch is in his denial of the fact that he might actually like them. And yet, in this book the Grinch has yet not tried them, which implies that he has never tried them. It takes Sam pushing the Grinch to the point where the Grinch accepts his challenge, thinking he will prove Sam wrong. How could he actually like the strange sounding food? Just the thought of Green Eggs and Ham makes the Grinch’s stomach turn in displeasure. Or so he thinks. For he does not know for 100% certain, as he has never actually tried the dish.
What Dr. Seuss has done with this story is to create a wonderful metaphor for life. How many times have you been presented with an idea, whether it be a person, place or thing, that you immediately dismissed without even giving it one thought? How many times have you taken an idea and based your opinion of that idea on what someone else, be it a friend, the co-worker or even the media has said about that idea, without even taking the time to weigh it out in your own mind? Have you ever had anyone be so persistent about an idea that you finally had to take their challenge to try the idea, only to find out the said idea was actually something you liked? This is the meaning of Green Eggs and Ham. “
You do not like them so you say? Try them! Try them and you may! Try them and you may, I say!”
