Date of Award

4-6-2026

Document Type

Thesis

First Advisor

Amy Sojot, Ph.D.

Second Advisor

Tamara Stasik, Ph.D.

Third Advisor

Alex Richardson, Ph.D.

Abstract

This thesis examines the Curious George series through Donna Haraway’s companion species framework in order to analyze how narratives of care, curiosity, and goodness structure human–animal relationships within the stories. Focusing on the first seven books written and illustrated by H. A. Rey and Margret Rey, as compiled in The Complete Adventures of Curious George (2001), the project uses close textual and visual analysis to examine how George’s curiosity repeatedly generates disruption that is managed through intervention, discipline, and forgiveness by human authority figures, particularly the man with the yellow hat. Drawing on Haraway’s concepts of companion species, naturecultures, and situated knowledges, this study argues that the series constructs a relational world in which curiosity is encouraged but must ultimately remain within boundaries defined by human authority. While postcolonial scholarship highlights the colonial logics embedded in George’s capture, relocation, and containment, a companion species perspective reveals how these dynamics persist through seemingly benevolent relationships of care and companionship. By bringing multispecies theory into conversation with existing postcolonial critiques of the series, this project offers a new way of understanding how narratives of care can simultaneously sustain hierarchical relations of power. By analyzing how curiosity, care, and goodness are narratively organized across the series, this thesis demonstrates how Curious George participates in teaching readers how exploration should be managed, forgiven, and ultimately governed. More broadly, the project highlights how children’s literature functions as a site where hierarchical relationships between humans and animals are normalized through narratives that appear playful, affectionate, and morally instructive.

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