The
Butter Battle Book and the Cold War
The Butter Battle Book, like The Cold War, was an arms race. No big shots where actually fired between the US and the Soviet Union; however, there remained a constant threat in the back of everyone’s minds that war might break out at any moment. In the story by Dr. Seuss, Grandpa is portrayed as the United States Military while Van Itch is the Soviet Union Military. The Cold War resulted from geopolitical, ideological, and economic differences between the US and the Soviet Union; the dispute between butter sides symbolizes these differences between the nations. Similar to the US military tactics, Grandpa keeps guard outside of the Nooks’ Nooks? nation in order to contain their butter-side down tactics within a specific geographical region. Like the Soviets, Van Itch of the butter-side down nation, was constantly bringing new weapons to the fence. The provider of these weapons is Chief Yookeroo; Yookeroo symbolizes the United States government during the time of the Cold War, specifically, US Presidents Reagan, Roosevelt, Truman, Eisenhower, and Kennedy.
The evolution of the weapons in the story represents an obvious evolution of weapons in the real world during the Cold War. In The Butter Battle Book italicize all book titles, Grandpa starts out carrying a Snick Berry Switch, and it worked for a long time until the enemy made a slingshot that took it down. This was the start of the arms race, which went all the way until the Big-Boy Bamaroo was invented. The Big-Boy Bamaroo most obviously represented the nuclear bomb which was held by both sides this is not traditionally what The Big-Boy Bamaroo is said to represent. Look up the two nuclear bombs used in WWII; however there were some other weapons Seuss alluded to in the Butter Battle Book such as the Utterly Sputters. Back in the Cold War this doesn’t really work as an introductory phrase. It is casual language versus academic, chemical warfare was a big idea that would take out the enemies without having to fire a single bullet this might require a citation; this concept is clearly represented with the Utterly Sputters that shoot out blue goop all over the Zooks.
Although the weapons being built are the main aspects of the story by Dr. Seuss, many people overlook the ever-growing wall between the Yooks and the Zooks. This is a good point. The Yook-Zook wall began as a waste high barrier that could easily be seen over by Grandpa as he patrolled the barrier. By the end of the novel, the wall was a huge sight to be seen; neither side could communicate with each other unless if they stood on top of it as Grandpa and Van Itch did at the end of the story. This wall stands as a symbol for the Berlin Wall which was built as an effect of the Cold War. The Berlin Wall stood from 1961 until 1989 when it was torn down to symbolize the end of the Cold War. In conclusion, The Butter Battle Book is a direct allegory to the nuclear arms race because it teaches children the mutually assured destruction that occurred during the time of the Cold War.
For the most part, this is an overview, and it could benefit from additional in-depth comparisons between the events of the Cold War and The Butter Battle Book. Think of additional details from the book and the events of the Cold War to use to elaborate your body paragraphs. A few appropriate quotations from the story or analysis of the images would be a good option.
The Butter Battle Book, like The Cold War, was an arms race. No big shots where actually fired between the US and the Soviet Union; however, there remained a constant threat in the back of everyone’s minds that war might break out at any moment. In the story by Dr. Seuss, Grandpa is portrayed as the United States Military while Van Itch is the Soviet Union Military. The Cold War resulted from geopolitical, ideological, and economic differences between the US and the Soviet Union; the dispute between butter sides symbolizes these differences between the nations. Similar to the US military tactics, Grandpa keeps guard outside of the Nooks’ Nooks? nation in order to contain their butter-side down tactics within a specific geographical region. Like the Soviets, Van Itch of the butter-side down nation, was constantly bringing new weapons to the fence. The provider of these weapons is Chief Yookeroo; Yookeroo symbolizes the United States government during the time of the Cold War, specifically, US Presidents Reagan, Roosevelt, Truman, Eisenhower, and Kennedy.
The evolution of the weapons in the story represents an obvious evolution of weapons in the real world during the Cold War. In The Butter Battle Book italicize all book titles, Grandpa starts out carrying a Snick Berry Switch, and it worked for a long time until the enemy made a slingshot that took it down. This was the start of the arms race, which went all the way until the Big-Boy Bamaroo was invented. The Big-Boy Bamaroo most obviously represented the nuclear bomb which was held by both sides this is not traditionally what The Big-Boy Bamaroo is said to represent. Look up the two nuclear bombs used in WWII; however there were some other weapons Seuss alluded to in the Butter Battle Book such as the Utterly Sputters. Back in the Cold War this doesn’t really work as an introductory phrase. It is casual language versus academic, chemical warfare was a big idea that would take out the enemies without having to fire a single bullet this might require a citation; this concept is clearly represented with the Utterly Sputters that shoot out blue goop all over the Zooks.
Although the weapons being built are the main aspects of the story by Dr. Seuss, many people overlook the ever-growing wall between the Yooks and the Zooks. This is a good point. The Yook-Zook wall began as a waste high barrier that could easily be seen over by Grandpa as he patrolled the barrier. By the end of the novel, the wall was a huge sight to be seen; neither side could communicate with each other unless if they stood on top of it as Grandpa and Van Itch did at the end of the story. This wall stands as a symbol for the Berlin Wall which was built as an effect of the Cold War. The Berlin Wall stood from 1961 until 1989 when it was torn down to symbolize the end of the Cold War. In conclusion, The Butter Battle Book is a direct allegory to the nuclear arms race because it teaches children the mutually assured destruction that occurred during the time of the Cold War.
For the most part, this is an overview, and it could benefit from additional in-depth comparisons between the events of the Cold War and The Butter Battle Book. Think of additional details from the book and the events of the Cold War to use to elaborate your body paragraphs. A few appropriate quotations from the story or analysis of the images would be a good option.