Where The Wild Things Are Analysis

When drawing on the contrast between legal positivism and legal ethics, Manderson’s reading of Maurice Sendak’s children’s story, “Where the Wild Things Are” offers a thesis that is grounded on the idea of the absence of ethics within modern law. It is his belief that this absence is brought upon by the dominance of legal positivism.

One might interpret Sendak as an exemplum on the necessity for obedience to authority; where we sacrifice the state of nature in favour of a legal order marked by simple obedience. On the other hand, Manderson believes that Sendak should not be interpreted as the glorification of obedience as this does nothing for our relationship with the law. Instead it establishes a type of social contract – a relationship that is unilateral. Hence, we have to understand that discord between authority and society cannot be settled by obedience; we shouldn’t just conform to instructions. We should be aware of the purpose and consequences to form a bilateral relationship with modern law.

The Piaget theory states

Till this date, about 1,000,000 children are being forced out from schools, particularly regions where women have a lower social status. The Islamist Movement uses their firm belief that their fight is sanctioned by God to provide justification that Sharia and Islamic law promotes keeping girls uneducated where they continue to face discrimination and abuse. They use this belief to their own psychological delusions; The Boko Haram leader declaring that God has instructed him to “sell” women. What we see in these afflicted areas is the enactment of psychological warfare by Islamists to keep the society under their rule with obedience by preying on people’s sensibilities, their fears and vulnerabilities as well as their genuine love for their religion. Thus, they live a life without responsibility and without