<P> In his mission to protect the speck, Horton is ridiculed and harassed by the other animals in the jungle for believing in something that they are unable to see or hear . He is first criticized by the sour kangaroo and her little kangaroo in her pouch . The splash they make as they jump into the pool almost catches the speck, so Horton decides to find somewhere safer for it . However, news of his odd new behavior spreads quickly, and he is soon harassed by a group of monkeys . They steal the clover from him and give it to Vlad Vladikoff, a black - bottomed eagle . Vlad flies the clover a long distance, Horton in pursuit, until Vlad drops it into a field of clovers . </P> <P> After a long search, Horton finally finds the clover with the speck on it . However, the Mayor informs him that Whoville is in bad shape from the fall, and Horton discovers that the sour kangaroo and the monkeys have caught up to him . They tie Horton up and threaten to boil the speck in a pot of "Beezle - Nut" oil . To save Whoville, Horton implores the little people to make as much noise as they can, to prove their existence . So almost everyone in Whoville shouts, sings, and plays instruments, but still no one but Horton can hear them . So the Mayor searches Whoville until he finds a very small shirker named JoJo, who is playing with a yo - yo instead of making noise . The Mayor carries him to the top of Eiffelberg Tower, where Jojo lets out a loud "Yopp!", which finally makes the kangaroo and the monkeys hear the Whos . Now convinced of the Whos' existence, the other jungle animals vow to help Horton protect the tiny community . </P> <P> Geisel began work on Horton Hears a Who! in the fall of 1953 . The book's main theme, "a person's a person no matter how small", was Geisel's reaction to his visit to Japan, where the importance of the individual was an exciting new concept . Geisel, who had harbored strong anti-Japan sentiments before and during World War II, changed his views dramatically after the war and used this book as an allegory for the American post-war occupation of the country . He dedicated the book to a Japanese friend . </P> <P> Horton Hears a Who! is written in anapestic tetrameter, like many other Dr. Seuss books . Unlike some of his books, however, Horton contains a strong moral message, which Thomas Fensch identifies as "universal, multinational, multi-ethnic . In a word: Equality ." Fensch also contends that the Mayor of Whoville's lines, "When the black - bottomed birdie let go and we dropped, / We landed so hard that our clocks have all stopped" is a reference to the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki . </P>

Who are the characters in horton hears a who