Exploring Emotions through Illustrations “Where the Wild Things Are”, by Maurice Sendak is a very popular children’s literature book that was published in 1963. It is an illustration book that not only targets children, but adults as well. In Sendak’s, Where the Wild Things Are, the main Character is a young boy named Max. Max is seen being mischievous wearing a wolf costume, storming around the house, until his mother sends him to his room and denies him supper. Max begins to feel angry. He then goes to his room, where he begins to dig deep into his imagination. As his anger grows the grass begins to grow until his room becomes some type of wild jungle. He then imagines big tall scary looking monsters. Though the words describe these animals
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Not much is shown or said of any other individuals living in the home. No family pictures or nothing that gives way to others on this house hold. What is important about the setting of the book is how the character Max is able to flip from real world to fantasy. Even though this book considered an illustration book, we can easily compare this story to fantasy. Comparing “Where the Wild Things Are” to fantastic books like Lewis Carroll’s “Alice in Wonderland” is as simple as identifying the theme of both stories. Both stories include the theme of using imagination to conquer feelings that may cause conflicts with actions and behaviors. Alice’s imagination was more of a dream where she journeyed to Wonderland. Everything was mad and nothing was where it seemed to be. She had to be the adult in Wonderland. She had to play a major role and it contributed to her growth. As with Max, he too found himself growing, or in his case learning to overcome feelings and emotions. For most children, handling emotions is not an easy task. Most children too have conflicts that channel anger or anxiety because of the little control that they have over their own lives. Like Alice and Max children use imagination as a coping strategy. In “Where the Wild Things Are” Max has two conflicts. He first has a conflict with his own mother. Being tired of always being told what he can and cannot do, he then talks back to his mom. She sends him to his room he become angry and that is when the second conflict arises, Character vs
Not much is shown or said of any other individuals living in the home. No family pictures or nothing that gives way to others on this house hold. What is important about the setting of the book is how the character Max is able to flip from real world to fantasy. Even though this book considered an illustration book, we can easily compare this story to fantasy. Comparing “Where the Wild Things Are” to fantastic books like Lewis Carroll’s “Alice in Wonderland” is as simple as identifying the theme of both stories. Both stories include the theme of using imagination to conquer feelings that may cause conflicts with actions and behaviors. Alice’s imagination was more of a dream where she journeyed to Wonderland. Everything was mad and nothing was where it seemed to be. She had to be the adult in Wonderland. She had to play a major role and it contributed to her growth. As with Max, he too found himself growing, or in his case learning to overcome feelings and emotions. For most children, handling emotions is not an easy task. Most children too have conflicts that channel anger or anxiety because of the little control that they have over their own lives. Like Alice and Max children use imagination as a coping strategy. In “Where the Wild Things Are” Max has two conflicts. He first has a conflict with his own mother. Being tired of always being told what he can and cannot do, he then talks back to his mom. She sends him to his room he become angry and that is when the second conflict arises, Character vs