Yertle the Turtle and Other Stories Analysis

Yerlte the Turtle is a young children’s book written in 1958 by the famous children’s author, Dr. Seuss.

The story revolves around King Yerlte the Turtle, ruler of the Island of Sala-ma-Sond. Yerlte the Turtle is a power-hungry king who seeks to gain more land and establish a bigger kingdom to rule over. In order to make this happens, he recruits his own people to stand in as a throne for him to sit on and look over his new lands. However, ultimately, he is overthrown by one turtle, Mack, who burps and collapses the throne, thus freeing all the other turtles.

The story can be interpreted to be an allegory for the rise of Adolf Hitler in Nazi Germany, and his eventual fall. Yerlte the Turtle is, indeed, a metaphor for Hitler himself, and portrays his desperation to gain more and more land at the expense of his very own people. Seuss was attempting to portray what it was like living under a dictatorship like many Germans had to endure. However, he inspires hope in the world through his ending where all the turtles are freed.