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One poem that really
stood out for me was “James.” It is only two lines (short and sweet), and
centers around one of the simplest of actions: Santa offering a teddy bear to a
little boy named James. However, Burton gave the story a twist and said that
James had been “mauled by a grizzly earlier that year,” making this simple good
deed of Santa’s an unknowingly cruel one. The picture is even telling, showing
a down-on-his-luck boy with a mauled eye (presumably from the bear) being given
a toy bear. I can imagine that James is feeling a sense of abandonment as this
figure that supposedly cares for all is seemingly mocking his predicament. The picture reminds me of The Nightmare before Christmas, where a man (or skeleton) wanting
to do good for others instead ends up causing a crisis. This may be a stretch,
but I can see how James might feel alone in his current state, as a jolly man
that supposedly brightens children’s’ lives makes light of his situation.
As for Jung’s
archtypes, I do not see how any of them might perfectly apply in this situation.
I can, however, see how Santa might be a Wise Man/Sage. It would require
looking at the figure of Santa in a different light from the one I cast in the
first paragraph, but, if one were to imagine Santa as knowing all (thus knowing
about James’s bear attack), then giving James the teddy bear might not be so
much a gesture of mocking him so much as a gesture of telling James to “toughen
up.” It could be read as a way to tell James (albeit harshly) that life can be
tough and that it is best to stare life’s challenges right in the eyes and
laugh. Or, it could be that James already tried laughing at and staring a bear
in its eyes and was mauled for that reason. The teddy bear could be Santa’s way
of saying “bears are not all that bad – like this one, for instance.” Maybe it
is something entirely different.
Whatever the case may be, Burton is trying to deliver some sort of
profound message (a message that could, in fact, state that not all bears are
bad).
I liked the “James” poem as well. Yes, it was short. It is as if it said so little, but implied so much. You said and I quote, “It could be read as a way to tell James that life can be tough and that it is best to stare life’s challenges right in the eyes and laugh. Or, it could be that James already tried laughing at and staring a bear in its eyes and was mauled for that reason. But I inferred something different from this petite poem. I think that it showed how oblivious certain people can be to certain situations. Santa obviously could not see that James had been mauled in the face by a bear. I am almost sure that Santa had nothing but polite intentions. That is how real life is, and that is probably how Burton felt as a child. People often hurt your feelings unintentionally.
ReplyDelete-Asenath Babineaux
I really like your connection to the Nightmare Before Christmas, I think it's a really astute thing to notice and I agree that there could be a relationship between the two. It is definitely interesting that Santa, who is supposed to be this all-knowing kindly figure is giving the boy something that reminds him of a traumatic event. I personally interpreted it as a mockery of Jung's wise-man archetype. Burton took someone who is supposed to be the epitome of wise-man and had him make a mistake. It's certainly dark humor, and while no one likes to laugh at a child who's been mauled by a bear, the irony is apparent.
ReplyDeleteCyrus Nabipoor