Variations in Sendak's Trilogy

Variations in Sendak's Trilogy

Words and pictures
Realistic events and a fantasy variation of them
Authority and defiance
Freedom and enclosure
Constriction and expansion
Protection and intrusion
Man-made and wild
Wildness and authority
Control and abandon
Means of transportation: boats, planes, etc.
Flying and falling
The masculine and the feminine
Pictures, model airplanes, etc. and fantasy realities
Molding and being molded
Controlling and being controlled
Art as mastery: painting, music, etc.
Doing what is forbidden; consequences
Speech as power
Speech and music; chanting
Naming as power
Gaze as power
Nakedness and clothing
Birth
Separateness and belonging
Singleness and group membership
Oedipal concerns
Masculinity and femininity
Primal scene/ masturbation/ pregnancy/ birth
Eggs/ ovens/ caves
Being wrapped and unwrapping
Bodies of water/ milk, etc.

How do these things variously express the binaries common in texts of Children's Literature (Pleasures)?

HOME	AWAY
Human	Animal
Adult	Child
Maturity	Childishness
Civilization	Nature
Restraint	Wildness
Clothing	Nakedness
Obedience	Disobedience
Imprisonment	Freedom
Boredom	Adventure
Safety	Danger
Calm	Excitement
Acceptance	Defiance
Repression	Expression
Charity	Egotism
Martyrdom	Self-respect
Communal concern	Self-concern
Citizenship	Exile
Companionship	Solitude
Constriction	Liberation
Common sense	Imagination
Sense	Nonsense
Cynicism	Wise innocence
Wisdom	Ignorance
Old ideas	New ideas
Past practice	Future potential
Custom	Anarchy
Conservatism	Innovation
Fable	Fairy tale
Reality	Fantasy
False vision	Reality
Good	Evil
Evil	Good

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