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The Most Selfless Character in a Book

Horton

By Jada FergusonPublished 3 years ago 4 min read
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I almost entitled this “The Most Important Elephant to Have Ever Fictionally Existed”, then I thought of Dumbo. This will not be a debate about which character means more to the world because I do not have the heart to compare the two.

Horton teaches young children and adults alike the meaning of true dedication. I could not choose between Horton Hears a Who and Horton Hatches the Egg because both books show the extensive lengths of Horton’s morality.

With Horton Hears a Who, our kind-hearted hero, displays how much he values doing what he knows is right. He deals with incessant bullying and harassment. His will power is incomparable to anyone else. Horton’s sanity is discredited. He hears something on a small flower, and he communicates with that person. His “friends” and fellow jungle associates think that there is something wrong with Horton. They consider his behavior strange and disgraceful. Horton being the largest creature in the jungle never wields his strength over others. He uses his words. He defends these people he has never met because he knows they exist. “A person’s a person no matter how small.”

I remember being in awe of Horton in this book. His strength still amazes me. This book made me contemplate how much I could deal with the ridicule of my peers to protect someone who could not defend themselves. Horton gives people of all ages the critical encouragement to simply do what is right. The other characters in this book teach crucial, albeit hard lessons as well. The whole jungle follows this unbelievably cruel kangaroo. Non-coincidentally, human beings have the same nasty habit of going along with the person in power without making informed decisions for themselves. For some reason, people are infuriated by actions they do not understand. The inhabitants of the jungle are the ones who are behaving unhinged and unreasonable by the time the story reaches its climax.

In Horton Hatches the Egg, he sacrifices his comfortability for the life of another. A “friend” asks him for a very personal favor, and he offers his time and energy without question. He is dependable. Horton suffers immensely sitting on Mayzie’s egg. The seasons change and he weathers the severity each phase of year delivers. Horton does not speak nastily about Mayzie, who is blatantly taking advantage of him. He just does what he promised Mayzie he would do. “I meant what I said, and I said what I meant, an elephant’s faithful one hundred percent.”

Horton is the perfect example of a reliable character. I find that incredibly commendable and have tried my best to exude Horton-like traits. Horton is also the prototype for what not to do, concerning self-preservation. Listening to the suffering Horton endured showed me how others will uncaringly deplete you in favor of their own wants and needs. I have always had a hard time saying “no”, but at a young age I was able to acknowledge through this book that there must be a point where you put your well-being before the desires of others. Though it took me years to really begin to think about myself before I agreed to give my time and energy to another person, Horton hatching that egg was one of the examples that changed my mindset.

My mother and I love Horton. He makes our heart grow three sizes each time we read it. Horton would assist me in staying up later because if I selected one of these books my mom could not withstand reading it. Somehow a fictional animal character in a book can give you hope for humanity. With how discouraging the world can be, it is a gift when you find hope.

As I was writing this, I felt the need to finally read about the controversy surrounding Dr. Seuss. Horton was one of the main reasons I did not want to know why Seuss was being “canceled”. It is disgusting that so many racist images were drawn and continued to be printed for decades. We need to have these conversations. Imagery should not still be promoted and profited from just because the depictions were drawn in a different time. People who are so against the removal of certain books or even outraged about discussing why these images are offensive, should read the Horton books. We love a person’s art and put them out of reach of any type of reproach. Do not get incensed because someone notices something you did not see. Listen to them. Be like Horton.

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About the Creator

Jada Ferguson

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