The Trickster in The Cat in the Hat, a Book by Dr. Seuss

Mythological literary criticism looks at archetypes, allusions, and symbols regardless of time or place. These archetypes span from religious to psychological influences. The Cat In The Hat by Dr. Seuss can be analyzed in this way by looking at the story through a Hero’s Journey archetype. The boy and narrator is the hero, the Fish is the mentor (and also a Christ Symbol), the Cat in the Hat is the trickster, and Thing One and Thing Two are the threshold guardians.

The story starts with the hero, the boy and narrator that is the character readers identify with, and his sister (who interestingly never speaks or does anything except observe from the corner) who are alone at home while it is raining outside and their mother is out. This stagnant setting invites the trickster, The Cat, to enter. His entrance signifies the crossing of the normal world into a supernatural one where both he and the fish can speak though they are animals.

The Cat is an anthropomorphic being who is both within and out of the real world.

The trickster archetype is neither supernatural nor human. He is clown-like and seeks to entertain with his secret knowledge that allows him to play tricks. The trickster also has a proverbial fall. To contrast this character the mentor is introduced. The fish is the mentor and provides guidance and morality to the hero. The mentor can be described as being “The Voice of God” which relates to it being a symbol of Christ.

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The Christ archetype has a proverbial death and resurrection. The Cat rebels against the authority of the fish and the conventional societal rules by playing a balancing game. To antagonize the fish, the Cat uses him to play with in his balancing act. This image of the Cat holding up the fish, a cup, and a book is a further reference to the fish’s christ archetype; the fish being Christ, the cup is the Holy Grail, and the book is the Bible. When the Cat balances more and more things in his game he loses balance and falls, fulfilling its fated fall while everything he was holding spills around him as well. The Cat also drops the fish who flies out of its fish bowl and lands into a tea-pot; Christ’s destined death. Next introduced are Thing One and Thing Two. They arrive from a box the Cat brings in.

The box symbolizes Pandora’s Box. When the Cat in the Hat unhooks the latch on the box, chaos erupts as Thing One and Thing Two, the threshold guardians of the hero’s journey. Threshold guardians act as the lieutenants of the villain. They are not to stop or kill the hero, but test him. They do this by running around the house creating a huge mess, while the mentor guides the hero into defeating the threshold guardians. The hero captures Thing One and Thing Two and the Cat leaves with Thing One and Thing Two back in the box. Though the trickster creates trouble which in the end doesn’t affect him at all, the character usually creates a positive ending in the story. The Cat comes back and cleans everything up. The fish returns to its fish bowl which symbolizes its resurrection. The trickster usually imposes or creates a question, in this story’s case, the book ends in a question when he leaves and the world falls back into order.