I became Wild on the Way to Solla Sollew

When thinking of stories with which I associate wilderness, I find it pleasing that a Dr Seuss novel floats to the surface of my mind. Pleasing because it is quite an offbeat example of wilderness and adventure storytelling. Maybe the tale structure of the novel is relatively classic, but the Seussian illustrations and unmistakeable rhythm make it original. Our rather stressed-out fuzzy yellow beady-eyed creature-hero sets off to find a better life in unknown lands. He leaves his home in the Valley of Vung and encounters many peculiar and creepy creatures along his journey, in search of Solla Sollew, where they never have troubles, at least, very few.

The creature-hero (what name can you give to these Seuss animal-people?!) is driven by the hope of finding a better place to make a life, and in doing so undergoes an epic journey through fantastical landscapes. This notion of seeking a new place to call home, or reaching a promised land, is what creates so many captivating stories, real and across the arts. In Solla Sollew, as in so many other tales, it seems that two lessons are learned; the destination you reach can turn out to be different to your expectations, and the journey itself is your teacher.

This story is all about wilderness for me. The wilderness is twofold; in the experiences and in the environments. In the first instance, the key is that the creature-hero has encounters which are beyond his control. He is attacked for example by other creatures from concealment, and initially chooses flight as his defence. In nature, quick response is the difference between living and dying. The combative instinct buried in us comes to the fore as we try and regain control of a situation and protect ourselves. I think this discovery and utilisation, even refinement of this protective instinct is so notable in Solla Sollew. The hero is hurt physically, emotionally, suffers from exhaustion, lack of comforts, confusion, entrapment, and disappointment. The response from the hero to his surroundings varies with each page and new challenge, whisking the reader along with him. After he eventually reaches the mystical wondrous paradise that is Solla Sollew, where they never have troubles (at least, very few), he finds the door to the city is barred by a mischievous creature in the lock. He can either choose to go on seeking, or choose to take his newly gained wisdom and return to the Valley of Vung.

In the second instance, the wild is represented in new lands previously beyond the borders of the hero’s and the reader’s imaginations. The incredible Seussian illustrations take us from bare rocky deserts to claustrophobic tunnel shafts, to exposed haunted peaks and glorious shimmering cities. The landscapes are so skilfully represented that a reader has enough to go on to imagine the lie of the land, but can fill in those blank white backgrounds with the wild lands from their own minds:

Figure 1: There seems to be one path, and it looks long, and lonely. From I Had Trouble In Getting to Solla Sollew, by Dr Seuss (1965)

The illustration which has really stayed with me over the years is the tunnel shaft, with the multitude of creatures in different forms all rushing through. The cacophony of noise and work and the frightening darkness and sensation of being swept along and completely out of control just leapt off the page and grabbed me as a child. I think the effect is amplified by the fresh air and peace and serene, glorious beauty one imagines the hero feels when, on the next page, he comes out of the tunnel into the flowered landscape by the river. There is a sensation of complete relief, which comes from the change in environment. The illustration isn’t on this page – find it in the book!

Eventually, after the promise of a land without troubles comes to nothing, the hero adopts a wilder nature himself. The obstacles we so often encounter in Nature can become guidance when viewed differently. He absorbs the strengths of his foes and turns it upon them with that new-found combative instinct. I have read that the book is about, rather simply, facing up to your troubles. But to me, that doesn’t count the extraordinary richness and influence of the journey through places that were previously unknown. Through experience and failure, it is possible to learn how to behave in different environments. Wilderness can teach us this in a way civilisation and control cannot.

Had he journeyed differently, he would have found another solution perhaps, another ending. But he becomes wild in the end. He takes the fearsomeness, the decisiveness and the self-reliance of wild creatures home with him. Seuss gives his creature-hero inner peace when he is able to decide to give his troubles ‘troubles with me!’

To make a huge conceptual leap from Solla Sollew, I could say that there is a suggestion in the book that pleasure in self-determination and self-reliance is coupled with experiencing and embracing wilderness. It is why in real life we secretly suspect that those wild creatures on the tundra, the moor, the wind – they are happy. They have found it. Because how could you be so completely in what you are, so much a part of your environment, and not be completely at peace, in being wild?

That is another big think for other posts!

Figure 2: Nature is on a big scale, and there are many obstacles. From IHTIGTSS by Dr Seuss, (1965)

  Figure 3: Uh-oh! From IHTIGTSS by Dr Seuss, (1965)