The Unsettling Message of Green Eggs and Ham

Years ago while living abroad, I heard an expat mom explain to her kids that it was good to try new foods just like in Green Eggs and Ham by Dr Seuss!

For anyone unfamiliar with the red covered book filled with rhymes, Green Eggs and Ham is a story where an unnamed main character is followed around town by the unrelenting, and extremely pushy Sam I Am. The book follows the main character and Sam I Am through all sorts of wacky places where the main character repeatedly tells Sam I Am that he is not interested in eating his strange green food and Sam I Am continuously insists on offering his food even after being rejected. By the end of the story, Sam I Am has worn the main character down to a point where he finally accepts the green eggs and ham and realizes he actually enjoys it.

But why did the main character ever have to reach the point where he finally succumbed to doing something he did not want to do originally?

Many times in life, there are pushy people who like to weave their way into another person’s comfort bubble, just as Sam I Am did to the main character. In most cases, a polite, “no thank you” usually works and it is enough to send Sam I Am types along their merry way and onto their next target. However, this story misses that mark and shows what happens when “no” is not a strong enough deterrent and allows Sam I Am to keep proceeding even when he is unwelcome.

So going back to the expat mom’s message to her children to try new foods and keep an open mind when introduced to new things, I would say to use another story other than Green Eggs and Ham because Sam I Am completely ignored boundaries and all the main character’s requests for him to stop offering him the eggs and ham.



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