Maurice Sendak's illustrated children's book , Where the Wild Things Are, features a wolf-suited boy named Max. The first few illustrations of this book reveal Max to be on a rambunctious rampage. The first illustration introduces the reader to Max who is nailing a rope of tied sheets to the wall to create a tent. He has a determined and devilish look on his face. Max's sole companion is his hapless teddy bear, which Max has apparently strung up on the sheet-rope, tied by the arm, helpless and dangling. The next illustration features Max airborne, fork in hand, flying down the stairs after the fleeing and frightened family dog. Between the two figures, a drawing of a monster signed "by Max", glares ahead. But it is the third illustration that is most telling of this boy's behavior. This illustration is significant because it openly displays Max's anger and resentment, which is focused solely on his mother and furthermore, this illustration sets the stage for Max's imaginative adventures which begin to take shape on the very next page.
In this illustration Max is standing in the foreground, off-center, angrily glaring to his left at this closed door. His hands are on his hips. He is the sulking lone wolf, angry with his mother. To Max's left is a closed door. His mother lies somewhere on the other side. Max is standing half on a rug and half on the floor. He stands between his earlier mischief-making fun and his later imaginings. Max is in a state of transition, just as his illustration offers a transition from the established mischievous behavior to the fantastical adventures that lie later in the book.
Max's bedroom is subtly colored and sharply angled; it is being pulled away from the viewer's eye. Behind Max is a clothed table with a single plant perched on its' surface. Above the table, slightly off-center is an unscreened, open window. Revealed are a grayish nighttime sky and a low moon ambiguously crescent or full. The most dominant feature in the background of this illustration is Max's four-poster bed. Its' very size dwarfs Max. The bed juts into the center of the room, angled from the rear-right corner. Its headboard nearly touches the ceiling. One can clearly see the dark space underneath the bed. With the exception of Max, all the other items in this illustration are in the background.
That as previously mentioned Max is physically placed at the foreground of this illustration. This physical placement is significant because Max (along with this hostility) is the focus of this book. In other illustrations Max shares the foreground, occupies the middle ground, is part of a complicated cast of characters, or is not present at all (as in the last page). This illustration draws the reader's attention to Max and emphasizes his facial expression. And it is this facial expression of hostility that is so evident, considering the rest of his body is covered in a white wolf suit, for he alone occupies the foreground. Max is the focal point: Max and his attitude. He is the very embodiment of hostility and willfulness. He stands apart (as he will be from his 'wild things' of which he will be king). He is what children are not supposed to be: hostile, resentful and alone.
Max is resentful because his mother has rebuked him. He is undergoing punishment due to his hostile behavior opposed to his mother's expectations. As a result, he is alone and confined to his room. For all of these reasons Max is angry and his facial express illustrates his feelings for his mother. None of this behavior is ideal, indeed it is considered bad. This illustration is significant in its overt hostility aimed at the Mother Figure.
Max is not exactly on even footing, even though his feet are planted firmly on the ground. He stands partially on the rug, and partially on the floor. Each foot is on a different surface. This placement reveals the transitional significance of this illustration. Although Max's thoughts are focused on his Mother who is on the side of the door, his feet are literally in two different places. This stance helps indicate leaving one state and entering another.
The room is angled away from the reader's eye. It is already being pulled away from the story. The muted, natural tones of Max's bedroom help it to morph into the jungle it will soon become. On the next page, Max's bedroom will begin its ultimate imaginary transition into a wild, natural place. The browns, greens and yellows will soon become trees, bushes and grasses. These colors also help to offset Max as someone who stands out against the muted, natural background. He will interact with this background, but ultimately, he will return back to his normal life. The atmosphere he creates will never fully absorb him.
Max stands in front of a single plant placed upon a table. With the help of Max's imagination, these few leaves will blossom into an entire forest. This plant foreshadows the vegetation that will quickly be overtaking Max's entire mental environs. These leaves reach up and toward the moon and night sky, helping the eye move up and out of the room, just as Max's imagination will shortly do.
Everything about this illustration is confined with the exception of the open window. The outer vista reveals the night, and a soon-to-be inspirational full moon. This most ardently shows the reader that it is night, the time for dreams and sleep. The moon also offers a wolf something to bay at. It suggests wild abandon and mystery under the cover of darkness. Much mayhem may ensue in the night. This also suggests that Max may be sleepy. It helps draw the reader's attention the the huge bed and the idea that Max may soon be upon it dreaming his wild dreams.
The large bed is the dominating object of the background of this illustration. Naturally, given that it is night time, and the facet that there appears nothing to play with in this room, it seems that sleep is where Max is headed. Sleep filled with dreams that will let his hostility-filled imagination run free and eventually bring him back to a state that is calm and controllable. This bed may also signify Max' mother. It is comparatively huge, dominating the room as Max's mother no doubt dominates his life. It appears comfortable yet Max has not come to it of his own accord, rather it is something he is forced to. Yet, when Max's imagination lets go, this bed along with everything but the outside sky and moon, melts into jungle-stuff. All fade away so that he can adventure to "where the wild things are".
This illustration's chief significance is the open emotional hostility aimed at the parental figure coupled with transitional clues which indicate to the reader that this hostility will be be allowed to play out while dreaming. All of the elements of this illustration help to identify Max as the main character. His physical placement signifies transition. His facial expressions and body language identify him as a child with a bad attitude: an angry and hostile boy. The spare furnishing focus the readers' attention toward the bed: the physical location of dreams. The room's angles and natural hues, the plant, the moon and the nighttime sky all set the stage for the imaginary changes about to take place. This illustration provides vast insight into both Max, the protagonist's mental state and the direction that the story will take.
FEEDBACK FROM PROFESSOR SHIN, ENGLISH 430: A thorough and convincing discussion of illustration three. I agree that the drawing subtly suggests Max's "in-betweeness", caught as he is between parental authority and the desire to seize that authority imaginatively. I would only encourage you to link some of your specific observations more substantively to larger thematic issues. Very your sentence structure (which I tried to do a little here). Great work.
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