Coming of Age in Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak

627 Words2 Pages

Where The Wild Things Are is, in my opinion, one of the best coming of age stories there is. It deals with heavy topics in such a light manner that it actually makes the whole experience enjoyable for us readers. This story depicts a young boy named Max who is unruly and is constantly wearing pajamas that make him look like a wolf. When Max yells to his mother that he is going to eat her up it upsets her and he is sent to his room without any dinner. When he gets to his room it starts to morph into a forrest. He takes a small boat and sails for weeks and weeks and almost a year until he arrives at mysterious place where the wild things are. In his wolf pajamas, the Wild Things mistake him to be a beast like they are. After many attempts or trying to intimidate Max without success, Max yells at them to be still and looks the beasts straight in their yellow eyes without blinking once. Impressed with Max, the beasts decide to make him the king of the wild things.

Using a psychological literary lens we can see that this whole story divulges into the fantasies of an lonely child full o...

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