To what extent does Max’s punishment fit his “crime”?
“Where the Wild Things Are” by Maurice Sendak is a tale of a boy called Max who is denied supper after he wears a monster attire and begins causing trouble in the house. Many people may argue that sending a child to bed without supper is not a deserving punishment since he will have a hard time sleeping in an empty, but in Max’s case, the punishment fits the crime. When Max goes to bed hungry, he finds himself having a strange dream in a place where he is able to be king. In a beautiful forest, Max meets big monsters, and he realizes that he can control the monsters. Max begins to shout at the wild things demanding them to do what he wants. This shows that Max is realizing the anger he feels towards his mother to the monsters. Max’s punishment fits the crime because he learns from his dream that the addiction of being in control or in power is not always satisfying. His dream about wild things and land raises the question about imagination nature. Although Max has control over the wild things, he feels unsatisfied and decides to abandon them and return home to his mother. He realizes that regardless of the situation, he needs a parent’s guidance.
Where the Wild Things Are” is not only a tale for the children but also for the adults. Max’s mother makes her son understand that what he did was not good through denying him supper. She prefers denying of supper rather than corporal punishment, which makes Max realize through his dream that his mother has good intentions in correcting him, and the only place he can be satisfied is at home surrounded by his loved ones. What adults can learn from the tale is that there are other alternative ways to punish children apart from corporeal punishment. Through the dream, Max is able to learn a lesson.
Works Cited
Sendak, Maurice. Where the Wild Things Are. HarperCollins, 1988.