Jack Skellington As A Christian Figure In The Nightmare Before Christmas

Christ figures, as Professor Thomas Foster notes in How to Read Literature Like a Professor, are often used in contemporary films and literature because “the parallel deepens our sense of the character's sacrifice if we see it as somehow similar to the greatest sacrifice we know of” (Foster 132). In the movie The Nightmare Before Christmas, the main character, Jack Skellington, personifies many of the traits that Foster defines as constituting as a Christ figure, especially the idea of him making a sacrifice. Though his sacrifice is not identical to Christ’s sacrifice, it is important to note that a Christ figure’s story is different from Christ’s story to an extent, otherwise the Christ figure would just be Christ (Foster). The selfish nature

His title as the Pumpkin King also compares to Christ, who was also seen as a King, among other things such as a Prophet and a Priest (Malone). Skellington embodies both someone who needs salvation and, once he receives it, someone who shares his revelations. In the song “Jack’s Lament”, he is revealed to have a crises of faith, as he remarks “Oh, somewhere deep inside of these bones… An emptiness began to grow” (Nightmare) showing his dissatisfaction with his life, and that he feels as though something important is missing from him, so he cries out for something to save him. Often, in films with a more grim undertone, the Christ figure fights a “sense of being lost” and has a “need for some salvation” (Malone), since in Jesus’s early life, he went through similar trials and tribulations, “in the days of His flesh, He offered up both prayers and supplications with loud crying and tears to the One able to save Him from death” (Heb 5:7,8). Skellington begins his journey of enlightenment when he travels through the forest to find Christmas Town, which symbolizes the new life and practices that he can find solace in and will fill up the hole that had begun to form inside of him. As he finds this new “holiday”, he is able to praise it as a new

Skellington interprets this idea as him being able to claim with irrefutable proof that his newfound belief is right and that he is able to teach others about it, even though he began to spread this new religion for the selfish reason of wanting to take control of something that was not his. Jesus had a similar belief of the importance of faith, as he claimed that “I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life" (John 8:12), but he spread his religion in the name of God, and not because he willed to become praised in place of God. This is where their stories begin to diverge, as the sacrifices they make change. Skellington starts to sacrifice the life, customs, traditions, and “religion” that he had previously had, and he expects those in his town to do the same in order to adopt and take Christmas for themselves. Skellington also sacrificed his life, but it was because of his selfish attempt to take over something that was not his, which was then furthered when his disciples, or the townsfolk did not