“Bad Friends” is a fully illustrated story written by Brecht Evans (2011) about a girl who has just reached her puberty. She was upset with herself when she met a group of monsters and ended up living with them. “Where the Wild Things Are” is an illustrated story written by Maurice Sendak (1963) about a boy named Max, the king of a place where the wild things are. Max decided to run away after being scolded by his mother to live with a group of monsters. In general, both stories show similar plot development. Even though no one has ever said this directly, people have often implied that both the girl in “Bad Friends” and Max in “Where the Wild Things Are” chose to run away because of ineffective parenting skills showed by their parents. Personally, however, both the girl’s and Max’s parents cannot be blamed solely. While I agree that both the girl’s and Max’s parents did not …show more content…
Max, the main character, ran from his home after he was scolded by his mother. That night, Max wore his white wolf suit and created few troubles. Annoyed with Max’s mischief, her mother got angry and called him ‘wild thing’. Max heard his mother and replied, “I’ll eat you up!” (Sendak 8). This situation has amplified her mother’s anger. Personally, it is quite harsh for a mother to call her son as ‘wild thing’. Only from the small conversation that Max had with his mother, it is obvious that they did not have a good relationship. She then caged Max in his room and banned him from eating dinner. This situation is even crueler. Max just did few mischiefs yet he was punished so badly. This seemingly unfair situation ignited Max’s desire to rebel. This is when he decided to sail away from home with his imaginary yacht. From the reading, it is clear that Max’s mother also did not showed good parenting quality, just as the girl’s parents in “Bad