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By Root 841 0

Buchanan, for example, notes that “those who expect to experience an increased flow of benefits from the government” will be sure to vote for policies that widen the scope of said benefits.3 Buchanan’s observations about the rich and poor are here analogous to Thidwick (who is “rich” in the relevant sense of owning a resource of potential value to others, via his body) and the “guests” (who, while they all have bodies of their own, perceive themselves to be poor in the sense that they don’t possess Thidwick). The creatures claim to have formed a community, so in one sense it seems appropriate to institute democratic voting procedures. The problem is that they never actually acquired any right to live on the horns in the first place, so their voting about what Thidwick can do with his horns has no justification. They claim that the moose runs a “public hotel,” implying that Thidwick has opened his horns to any and all creatures who wish to live there. But it is not Thidwick who has extended this offer. “There’s plenty of room . . . and it’s free!” (Thidwick) claims the Bingle Bug.

His Guests Are Still on Them

The creatures’ exercise of their alleged rights turns out to place Thidwick’s life in jeopardy; first, because of the scarcity of Moose-Moss on the north shore, but then, more dramatically, when Thidwick becomes the target of hunters. He tries to elude the hunters, but being weighed down by more than 379 other creatures—five hundred pounds worth—is a considerable hindrance. He realizes he could run faster without the extra weight, but he still thinks he must be “nice to his guests.” Their guest status and Thidwick’s “niceness” at this point are overriding even his capacity for self-preservation. Although he escapes from danger at the end, it should be clear that the “guests” didn’t in fact have any right to live on the horns and that Thidwick was mistaken in letting his big-heartedness be used against him by the other creatures. Thidwick’s property right in his horns is a logical consequence of his self-ownership rights, even if neither he nor the menagerie recognizes this.

Thidwick does save himself from the hunters, thanks to the serendipitous timing of his annual horn shedding. Just as he is cornered by the hunters (cornered because the creatures won’t permit him to jump into the lake and swim away), Thidwick realizes it’s time for the horns to come off. This allows Thidwick to regain his liberty and self-ownership: the horns, now discarded, can be kept by the creatures, and Thidwick is free to swim to the south of the lake. It’s a pyrrhic victory for the creatures, of course: since the horns are no longer attached to a set of legs, the hunters may easily take the horns and all the creatures as their prize. The reader will typically agree with Dr. Seuss that the creatures got what they deserved—“stuffed, as they should be” (Thidwick). And we feel relieved that Thidwick’s rediscovery of his fundamental right of self-ownership comes in time for him to escape the hunters and rejoin his friends. We see here an important aspect of Lockean self-ownership: without it, even self-preservation is difficult to secure. Thidwick knows he needs to leave the north shore, or he’ll starve. He knows he could outrun the hunters bent on killing him if he didn’t have five hundred pounds of pests on top of his head. But with his autonomy gone, he cannot act on what he knows to be the life-preserving choices.

Does Thidwick Need a Visa to

Get to the South Side of the Lake?

Given current anxieties, some may be tempted to see Thidwick the Big-Hearted Moose as a parable about illegal immigration, with big-hearted Thidwick as the United States and the over 379 creatures as illegal immigrants. I would resist this interpretation. First of all, that interpretation only makes sense if Thidwick is seen as unaware that the creatures are moving in, which isn’t how the story goes. More importantly, the analogy fails in that immigrants are primarily net gains for the economy, engaged in productive labor, whereas the creatures are not productive