Well, they ain’t Whats, are they? No, seriously, most of the human looking characters are clearly human. They don’t look like Whos. The children, for example, in The Cat in the Hat don’t look like Whos at all.
A famous line in Horton Hears A Who! (which was also used as a slogan for an anti-abortionist group until legal action stopped them) is “A person’s a person, no matter how small.” Wouldn’t this mean that Whos are people as well?
And the ruff! don’t forget the ruff!
I’ll bet it wears out fast from all the Grinch-sweat-ring-around-the-collar, which I would assume would be pretty acidic.
The Good News of the Who Whos.
Right from the God-start
there was the God-Word.
It was given a Who-heart
and that’s what the Whos heard.
His mom with no man
with the help of the Spirius
said ‘yes’ to God’s plan
and named her boy Geesius.
He grew in grace and smarts,
and washed by the Jew John.
He said, “Give God your hearts
And see the new Who-dawn!”
But some didn’t like
him speaking for God
The Good News of the Who Whos.
Right from the God-start
there was the God-Word.
It was given a Who-heart
and that’s what the Whos heard.
His mom with no man
with the help of the Spirius
said ‘yes’ to God’s plan
and named her boy Geesius.
He grew in grace and smarts,
and washed by the Jew John.
He said, “Give God your hearts
And see the new Who-dawn!”
But some could not stand
him speaking for God
so they thought and they planned
to nail him up on a rod.
Then from the dead he rose
and went home to the skies
to give the Whos hopes
that they too will rise.
Peace.
That’s great. I’m going to show that to my friends in seminary.
The Grinch is really Belle, from Beauty and the Beast, grown really old, ugly, and miserly.
This adds real poignancy to the scene where she “carves the Roast Beast”.
I never saw the live action movie because I wanted so desperately to retain my sense of childlike wonder, which I’m fairly certain Jim Carrey would have mercilessly destroyed.
Anyway…what exactly is a What? Are they just nasty Whos? Some sort of genetically altered Who, tortured and slowly corrupted by Morgoth into the sinister Whats?
I never thought the Grinch was a Who; he doesn’t look like a Who, since Whos seem to have antennae while the Grinch has some kind of moveable curl of hair. Plus he’s green, and I don’t think any Whos were green, though they do show a somewhat alarming range of heights. Plus Whos seem to be skinny, while the Grinch is kind of dumpy-looking. My own theory is that the Grinch was some sort of random one-off Suessian misfit, unaccepted by or unaccepting of all other Dust Speck cultures, and living in isolation on his mountain. I always had the feeling the Grinch was there before the Whos, and that he resents their Christmas festivities like we’d resent the loud and disturbing behavior of new neighbors. I sense that he feels the Whos are interlopers who destroy his peace.
However, I’ve been thinking. The Wuncler from The Lorax That Lifted (though you only ever see his arm) seems to be of the same species as the Grinch. He’s got a long green arm, and he seems pretty nasty and selfish and totally unconcerned about the happiness or health of his neighbors. And he undergoes a change of heart brought on by experience. Could the Grinch be a lost Wuncler? Or the Wuncler a Grinch? Or are they both members of the mysterious What tribe?