Marvin K. Mooney Will You Please Go Now? is a young children’s book written in 1972 by the famous children’s author, Dr. Seuss.
The story is narrated by an unknown figure, of which you can only see the hands of as they point towards the young Marvin. The figure is telling Marvin to “Please Go Now” and goes on to describe the different ways he can leave – examples including, on skates, by skiing, with a hat on, and so on. Eventually Marvin leaves by walking off.
The main purpose of this story is to be a political reference to President Nixon’s presidency. Seuss was criticized by columnist, Art Buchwald, at a party for “having never written a political book.” This urged Seuss to write the story, with Marvin portraying Nixon and his refusal to leave the house representing the public opinion of people towards Nixon. The idea that the narrator will do absolutely anything to make Marvin leave is telling of the public opinion of Nixon at the time, and much like Marvin, Nixon did eventually leave his role.
