What I Researched and Why: I was researching Where the Wild Things Are and I started to get bored with the different criticisms and interpretations that I read. So, rather than reading further analyses of the book, I decided to find what Maurice had to say about his own work. After all, an author should be allowed to say a thing or two about their own book.
What I Found: I discovered a copy of Maurice Sendak’s Caldecott Award acceptance speech in which he explains the full meaning of his book.
"Max, the hero of my book, discharges his anger against his mother, and returns to the real world sleepy, hungry, and at peace with himself. Certainly we want to protect our children from new and painful experiences that are beyond their emotional comprehension and that intensify anxiety; and to a point we can prevent premature exposure to such experiences. That is obvious. But what is just as obvious --and what is too often overlooked-- is the fact that from their earliest years children live on familiar terms with disrupting emotions, that fear and anxiety are an intrinsic part of their everyday lives, that they continually cope with frustration as best they can. And it is through fantasy that children achieve catharsis. It is the best means they have for taming Wild Things.
It is my involvement with this inescapable fact of childhood--the awful vulnerability of children and their struggle to make themselves King of all Wild Things--that gives my work whatever truth and passion it may have."
How I’m Interpreting It: Well, this is pretty much to the point. I have to say that I agree with Maurice, although I am not certain if what he says is completely accurate. I know it was true about me. I had a very active imagination as a kid so I could relate to the book. But this makes me think, does every kid have an imagination that can help them cope with stress? I have to believe that not every child likes fantasy.
How This Adds to Our Discussion: I am interested in what others think about what Maurice says. We learned in class that he believes his books “speak for children”. Do you think this book speaks to all children or only the select group who enjoys fantasy?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
I believe that this book can speak to all children. Whether or not they have an active imagination, children still do pretend. I know that when I was little, I would play dress up or Barbie and would create this very exaggerated world. Girls imaginations are probably different from girls, but they can still create thier own world to escape too.
I think that relegating texts like this only to children that "enjoy fantasy" is putting somewhat of an adult perspective to the work. As adults, we see "fantasy" as something separate from everyday life, as a specific genre of its own in literature/film, etc. But children's imaginations are constantly working. Of course, it is different for every child, but especially with young children, "fantasy" or "pretend" is not a niche enjoyment, it's a regular activity. It is actually a way to learn how to function in the real world, and, as Maurice suggests, can help them cope with traumatic life events or just the general trauma of growing up.
The question posed by Brian asking if all children had an imagination that could help them cope with stress really struck me. I believe that if ALL children did have the type of imagination that Max does that would allow them to deal with stress then we wouldn't see the presence of overtly naughty behavior that we see in our child population today. Some children, instead of using their imagination to take them away from their stressful place, allow that stress to be manifested in bad behavior.
Post a Comment