At the moment my favourite character has to be Max from Maurice Sendak’s Where The Wild Things Are. I loved this book as a child and to this day I still long for my very own Max-style wolf suit to wear when I’m feeling particularly mischievous. Don’t forget the crown too.
There is something about Max that provokes reaction in me. He strikes such a balance of bad behaviour with moments of pure naivety and vulnerability that I can’t help but love him. If I encountered a real child that behaves as Max does, then I would be enraged and banish said child from my presence. But on the page Max manages to circumvent that with his cunning.
The story is about anger and goes much deeper than an eight year-old’s temper tantrum. Max embodies human nature so realistically that we can all empathise and relate to him even if we are passed the days of kicking and screaming on the floor (although only marginally over it perhaps in some cases).
Max not only makes the characters he meets angry but he makes his readers angry, both at his treatment of others and their treatment of him. The self-elected King Max is a fantastic contrast to the homesick Max who wants his supper and I will carry the idea of contrast into my next story.
Elloise Hopkins.
No comments:
Post a Comment