Where The Wild Things Are': Analysis of Parent-child Relationships

Introduction

Where the Wild Things Are (Sendak, 1963) portrays the story of young boy Max, who is presented to the reader as belligerent, and his ‘journey’ into a place where his ‘wild’ spirit can roam free without punishment from his mother. It is a place where he encounters creatures that reflect the qualities found in himself and he is made king. However, this story possesses a much deeper, more symbolic meaning of parent-child relationships, which is the topic of this 'Where the Wild Things Are' analysis essay.  Looking into the character Max and comparing his journey to a transition from childhood to young adolescence, it can be argued that the story is, more specifically, symbolic of the mother-child relationship and the process of overcoming the power struggle between the parent and child through phantasy and imaginative play. Furthermore, the internal workings of the child’s mind and how feelings of ambivalence and qualities of the Id, referring to the work of Freud (1927), are overcome in order to rectify the relationship with the mother figure.

Mother-child relationship in 'Where the Wild Things Are'

At the start of the book, Max is portrayed as “wild” within the first few pages. It is the first adjective that is verbally used to describe him to the reader, which already makes him feel like a nuisance as well as possessing aggressive qualities. These feelings are not only felt by the reader but, are reflected in his mother’s character also. “His mother called him WILD THING!”. We can see through this expression and the illustrations in the first few pages of the book that Max is clothed as an animal and is introduced with bestial features, much like that of a wolf. So, straight away Max is presented with having survival and killer instincts. For further example, objects he uses for play or even the theme of his play in the illustrations such as, the hammer he holds, the fork, the teddy bear hung from a string and his costume.

Drawing attention again, to the first interaction between Max and his mother, the idea of the Id can be linked to Max’s behaviour when thinking about the survival instincts he seems to portray through his play. After his mother’s comment labelling max a “WILD THING!”, Max claims he will “eat” his mother. Immediately after this, Max is sent to his room without dinner, which is a significant turning point for him in the story. His anger proceeds to turn to rage and provokes his unconscious phantasy of travelling to the far away land. The Id, an idea that is part of a construct of the unconscious as formed by Sigmund Freud, is representative of basic needs and instincts, it controls the desires and impulses of the individual. Max’s desire for, we could say, independence or freedom were denied by his mother and so the phantasy world is subsequently engaged.

As the phantasy is shown, we see Max travel to the place where the wild things are and as his imagination grows, the illustrations on the pages grow larger, emerging the reader into Max’s phantasy world. Here, the wild things are introduced. The wild things are highly reflective of Max in terms of their wild behaviour and appearance. This portion of the story starts to signify Max regaining control over his mother as he is made “king of the wild things”. The taming of the wild things is part of Max’s progression in dealing with feelings of independence and separation from the mother as well as the denial he felt from her.

At first, it is apparent that Max uses the opportunity for control to pursue the demands of the Id and display wild behaviour. He orders them to start a “wild rumpus” and tells them when to stop. Interestingly, he denies them dinner and sends them to bed using what seems like projective identification to avoid his negative feelings towards his mother and make the wild things feel how he felt when being denied by his mother. It is, in a way, a re-enactment of the scenario between Max and his mother that he needed to unconsciously process in order to attempt to resolve the internal conflict he is facing.

In the next portion of the book, Max comes to the realisation that he is lonely. “And Max the king of all wild things was lonely and wanted to be somewhere where someone loved him best of all'. In addition to this, Max begins to smell food. He associates this food with the mother, regressing back to what could be perceived as association with the mother’s breast. There is an urge for closeness with the mother. Max leaving the wild things to get back on his boat is symbolic of him leaving his wild self behind to reconcile with the mother and regain proximity. It could be said that features of the superego can be seen here as Max’s impulses are under control, which shows his gradual shift from needing to control his mother to realising he needs to control himself. Therefore, allowing Max to eventually reconcile with the mother due to resolving his own conflicts to progress with the mother-child relationship.

It is also important to acknowledge that, Max’s room acted as a transitional space in which he could progress and process his ambivalence towards his mother and control his impulses. At the beginning of the book, the room acts as a space for Max to think about his actions and contain his anger. Furthermore, it acts as a space for him to imaginatively and unconsciously explore a more independent world or fantasy, similar to that of the adult world, where he is ultimately able to rectify his internal conflict.

Conclusion

Overall, Where the Wild Things Are attempts to demonstrate one of the many “journeys” children take during the transition through childhood to adolescence and highlights the importance of parent-child relationships throughout childhood, provoking thoughts about the implicit meanings behind a child’s behaviour. It brings to light the vast and complex internal processes of the unconscious and the authority dynamic between parent and child, something that is still not yet fully understood and makes an adventurous read for children but, a story that can cause revelations for parents about their own children. The child’s mind is just as complex as an adult’s, if not more in some respects, and recognising the wild side of the child; the angry, hostile, maybe even evil parts of the child leaves something for parents to consider. At the end of the book, although Max’s wild side is supposedly tamed, he can still be seen wearing his costume which, is associated with his aggressive, beast-like behaviour and so, poses the question: does a child’s wild side ever become fully tamed? 

References

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