Character Analysis - Horton

Horton sitting atop the egg: "I meant what I said, and I said what I meant. An elephant's faithful, one-hundred percent."

Why is your character important to the show?

Horton serves as the primary protagonist of Seussical. Horton's quest to save the Whos from harm (he feels a particular connection to the Whos, who are alone and defenseless) drives the main storyline of the show. Horton certainly feels persecuted and harassed by the various jungle animals who mock him and scornfully disdain the possibility that anyone that small could be living atop a clover. Horton's journey while sitting atop Mayzie's egg is also a primary feature of the second act. The show itself closes with the merging of the two Horton storylines: the Whos revealing themselves (ending Horton's unfair trial) and the egg itself hatching into an elephant bird.

What is your character’s superobjective (your character's objective for the entire play)? What steps does your character take to reach their superobjective?

I think that Horton's superobjective is, most broadly, a desire to do good and help out others. He is a compassionate, caring, and gentle soul, and is thrilled to find companionship in the tiny Whos (in particular, Jojo). Horton's two sub-goals are 1) protecting the Whos and finding them again after the bird drops the clover in the field and 2) protecting Mayzie's egg, and thus fulfilling his promise.

Horton is assured in his morality, always attempting to do the right thing even while enduring scorn from the jungle animals for protecting the Whos and later a host of other unpleasantness for protecting the egg (changing seasons/being sold at an auction/being put on display at the circus, etc.) Horton counts 2,999,999 clovers in his search for the clover with the Whos and sits atop Mayzie's egg for at least 51 weeks (and possibly a great deal more).