Original artwork, not a still
Green Eggs and Ham ‧ 1960
I would not like them here or there. I would not like them anywhere. I do not like green eggs and ham. I do not like them Sam I Am.
Behind the line
What it means
Our interpretation.
It is the sound of every picky eater and every stubborn person who is sure they will never change their mind. The joke of the book is that the refusal keeps escalating through new places, all built from one tiny word list Seuss could not exceed. Generations of children learned to read from it, and 'I do not like green eggs and ham' became shorthand for rejecting something you have never tried.
Context reviewed
In context
Spoilers for Green Eggs and HamShow the scene
The refrain comes from Dr. Seuss's Green Eggs and Ham, published by Random House on 12 August 1960. Seuss wrote it after his editor Bennett Cerf bet him $50 he could not write an engaging children's book using only 50 different words. A grumpy, unnamed character is pestered by the cheerful Sam-I-Am to try a dish of green eggs and ham, and answers with ever-longer refusals, in a house, with a mouse, in a box, on a train. The book ends with him trying it and declaring he likes it.
Sources (2)
- Wikipedia: Green Eggs and HamLead; Writing and releaseReference checked
- Wikiquote: Dr. SeussGreen Eggs and Ham (1960)Reference checked
Context reviewed
