Blog Post 6: “Wild” in Literature

In both Hemingway’s The Good Lion and Maurice Sendak’s Where the Wild Things Are, wildness is portrayed in the form of short stories which can be interpreted by both children and adults. In Hemingway’s written piece, the theme of domestic vs wild is embedded through the tail of a “good lion” who has a more sophisticated, civilized taste compared to the “bad lions” living in Africa who are deemed as savage. The first writer used the word “wicked” in describing the African lions who like to kill and eat animals/humans rather than pasta and wine. In one instance, Hemingway describes the lioness “who was the wickedest of them all” as a savage hunter with “yellow eyes..[and] blood caked on her whiskers.” These beastly characteristics “frightened the good lion very much” and evoke the sense of fear from the audience regarding the bad lions. This use of descriptive imagery paints wickedness to be synonymous with untameness and savagery- something that is seen as less civilized compared to other beings. In similar light, Sendak uses the word “wild” to describe abnormal, strange beasts that the main character discovers after sailing to an imaginative place. The wild things “roared their terrible roars and gnashed their terrible teeth,” depicting the savagery of the beasts the young boy had encountered. The repetition of the word “terrible” suggests that these beasts are not friendly, and things that should be feared. This use of the word “wild” in Where the Wild Things Are is most similar to the uncivilized use of “wicked” in The Good Lion. On the other hand, Sendak describes the young boy as a “wild thing”,  in addition to the beasts, after causing trouble in his home. This use of the word takes on a meaning that is closer to a theme of good vs evil rather than domestic vs wild. In this case, a well-mannered child would be considered normal/good whereas a child chasing the family dog or hammering holes into the wall (pictures from the book) would be described as “wild” and bad. This definition is slightly different than the savagery and uncivilized meanings “wildness” takes on in both short stories.

Vivian Nguyen