I think that most kids that did not live under a rock during childhood, knew and adored the story of Where the Wild Things Are. To revisit the story, it is the tale of a boy names Max. Max is never happy and resorts to being mischevious by dressing up in a wolf costume. His mom, as punishment sent him to bed without dinner. While in his room, Max dreams up a wild realm where the "wild things" run free. This realm was created by Max's imagination but it temporarily becomes a reality for him. He is at first scared of the wild things but then shows them some courage by staring them in the eye, and he is consequently deemed king of the wild things. He then gets lonely in a place that is not his home, and sails back to his room. When he gets back to his room, he finds a nice hot meal waiting for him, most likely from his mom.
The hidden message, I believe, is that even when kids feel something unfair is happening to them and they want to rebel, that is simply not the answer. Max rebels by going away to this other magical land but in the end he becomes lonely and he wants to go home. He also comes home to find a hot plate of food waiting for him, which would mean his parent still did really care for him. So the author may have been trying to say that even when parents punish their kids, it is for a reason, but that they will have compassion in the end. It is also important to note that there is never really a mention of the father. It is the mother that disciplines the child in the home, but it is also her that cooks the meal that is left in his room upon his return.
What other hidden messages can you find in this story? Do these messages correlate at all to the theme of women and children in American society?
Although it is through his imagination Max "runs away". A message this could be sending is that family is important even when you aren't always happy. I think that if they were thinking about this message, which they might not have been, it's good that Max comes home on his own. When it is his own choice to come home he realizes what he misses which will make him more likely to stay than if he'd been brought home by force. (kind of like when Sandy doesn't force Seth to come home from Portland in the OC beginning of season 2, if you're a fan..)
ReplyDeleteAlso, he is the king of the wild things, but chooses to go home. Which could be a message that your status and wealth aren't always the most important thing.