Dr. Seuss’s -Too Many Daves Essay

The search for personal identity is said to be a life history endeavor. At a certain point of their lives, nigh raft til nowtu wholey recognize who they truly are. Others live on the whole their lives in confusion or fear of confronting their real selves because these efficiency be some(prenominal)thing they would non same(p). somewhat people search long and hard to discover their essential Self. Others grow up truthful to themselves so that they develop an identity early in their lives and therefrom are able to develop more fully throughout their lifetime. Some people, cockeyedwhilethe conf utilize and afraidconstruct an image that they use to tell on otherwises and even themselves.Identity, therefore, is an issue that normal individuals grapple with. It is non only a gr testify-up issue, too. Even children occupy to deal with understanding who and what they are. They face the issue of a more simplistic but no less relevant spirit than adults do on the resign. Dr. Seusss childrens poetry Too many an(prenominal) Daves can be interpreted as a piece that deals with the subject of personal identity and individuality, discussing it on a level that a teenage child could understand and find enjoyable and interesting at the alike time.The persona in the narrative verse is a disinterested third-person verbaliser who simply would like to tell a story that he thinks others would be interested to know. The characters in his story is Mrs. McCave and her twenty-three sons, all named Dave. Maybe Mrs. McCave suasion that it would be easier to simply choose one name for all her sons kinda than think of a unique one each time she bears another(prenominal) son. She had twenty-three of them, after all. The disadvantage of this, she finds out later on, is that when she calls one son, all twenty-three Daves would come to answer her call.Ironically, she only realizes this when all of them are gr own-ups al demonstratey and it has become too late to rename t hem. Furthermore, now that they are all grown-ups, she is now able to think of unique and creative name by which she could call each one. The most obvious and catching attribute of the poem, even before its funny story, is its lilting cadence. All lines uniformly begin with an iamb followed by three anapests. This point pattern may fill been used by Dr. Seuss not so much in consonance with the message of the poem but because of its musical effect.When a storyteller or anyone drill-aloud this particular story begins with the first line Did I ever tell you? (1), the upward inflection on the second and fourth words, he would certainly bruise the interest of any child-listener. The succeeding lines proceed with a gallop-like speed and profound so that the even if the listener cannot follow the story place the lines or is simply too junior to understand, he would enjoy the rhythm of the readingas long as the lecturer places the proper emphases in the proper places, of cour se.Most Dr. Seuss books are notable for their nonsensical words that appeal not so much for the content or subject matter of the verse but for the effect of the words on speech when the verses are read or on the ear when they are listened to. Too more Daves is no exception to this Dr. Seuss trademark. The unshakable rhythm of the verses and the inclusion of words which are rigorously Dr. Seusss inventions and, therefore, not meant to be understood, gives the piece a tone of wit prompts the contributor to treat the story lightheartedly.The charm of Dr. Seusss stories is how they allow the reader to explore beyond the common and everyday things, whether he was conscious intimately this or not while he was writing them. Too Many Daves has a story which sounds too incredible to be true, but for its young listeners or readers, children whose ability to accept the fantastic and impossible are not yet hindered by the imagination-constricting ability to rationalize which adults are unf ortunate to have developed along with growing-up.Aside from the rhythm, the element of heavy musicality is as well affected by the profusion of rhyme, alliteration and assonance within the cardinal lines. The reason that the mother-character is named Mrs. McCave is so that it would rhyme with the sons name, Dave. The entire poem is composed of couplet rhymes with a different rhyme for every couplet. initial rhyme is evident in lines like twenty-three (2), she wishes that when they were born(9) and in some of the name calling the mother enumerates for her sons like Stuffy and Stinky (14), Ziggy and Soggy corrupt (17), Buffalo Bill and Biffalo Buff (18) and tearful Weed (19).Assonance, meanwhile, is present in almost all lines starting with the a sound in that wasnt a smart thing (3) to Yoo-Hoo (4), come on the run (6), and the names Hoos-Foos (11), Hot-Shot (12), Marvin O pay off Balloon Face (16), Soggy Muff (17), Sneepy and weepy Weed (19), Oliver Boliver butt (23) and Zanzib ar Buck-Buck McFate (23).The enumeration of possible names that the mother wishes she has named for her sons is the most interesting aspect of the poem because of the creativity that must have deceased in the writers mind in thinking of aurally appealing as well as thought-provoking names for the McCave boysalthough Dr. Seuss might have intentionally meant to make them nonsensical and meaningless when he wrote them.The reader of Too Many Daves can assume, however, that the mother must have been animate to think of these names in particular because they represent the personalities of her children, which she only sees and observes as each child grows up. Every reader can employ his own creativity as he imagines the metaphorical or literal meanings behind every name. Perhaps Bodkin Van Horn is the son who dresses sharply. Hoos-foos sounds like someone who does not take things in life seriously. Simms is the average kat who is liked by everyone.Hot-Shot is an athletic jock. Sunny Jim is the optimistic one. Shadrack is a homebody. Blinkey has something disparage with his eyes. Stuffy is always serious and uptight. Stinkey does not like to take regular baths. Putt-putt is cute but childish. Moon Face is overweight and loves to eat. Marvin OGravel Balloon Face is like his brother, Moon Face, but more lazy. Ziggy is smooth and ordinary. Soggy Muff is untidy. Buffalo Bill always figures in a fight. Biffalo Buff is always safe and stays away from troubles. Sneepy is sickly and weak. Weepy Weed is a crybaby.Paris Garters dresses well. Harris Tweed, too. Sir Michael Carmichael Zutt thinks too highly of himself. Oliver Boliver Butt is a simpleton while Zanzibar Buck-Muck McFate hates the small town life and dreams of being an venturer or an astronaut someday. The final line of the poem summarizes the message that the verbalizer would like to emphasize regarding the weird situation of the McCave boys being singularly named But she didnt do it. And now its too late. (2 4). Ones name is the first step by which the individual defines his identity.Personality would at last emerge whatever ones name is, but it would have helped the McCave brothers if they were given unique names by their mother, and hence unique identities in her regard of each son. By depriving them of individual names, it appears like she had liked her sons to be the same in every aspect. It could also be interpreted to mean that she does not care much about his sons as individuals with their respective identities and personalities. She good realizes too late that even if they are all her sons she could not go steady the nature of humans to grow differently from each other.On the other hand, however, one could argue that the mother did not name her children with various names because she does not want them to be burdened by the expectations that some names may have on their owners. For instance, if a person were named Lovely at birth, it would be unfortunate if she grows up be un attractive. Mrs. McCave would like his sons to develop their own identities and personalities and later on, decide to get a name appropriate to them. give Cited Dr. Seuss. Too Many Daves.