Max is alone at the beginning of the story and alone at the end, but those moments are not created equal. Not a lot of time passes between the two, yet there's a big difference between them.
At the beginning of the book, Max isn't exactly fitting into the society around him—and by "society," we mean his household. By the end of the book, though, Max seems much more okay with being alone. So, what happened?
Here's what: smack dab in the middle of the book, Max found a way to cope with his isolation, which is a major part of what Where the Wild Things Are is all about.
Questions About Isolation
- At what point in the story do you think Max feels most isolated? Why?
- How does Max's imagination play into his isolation? Does it make him feel less isolated…or more? Explain.
- What's the difference between being alone and being isolated? Do you have to be alone to experience isolation?
- Everyone feels isolated from time to time, so riddle us this: if everyone feels it, and everyone knows that everyone feels it, why is feeling isolated so…isolating?
Chew on This
Children should never be sent to their rooms alone as punishment because it creates a sense of isolation and abandonment just when they are at their most vulnerable.
Children can only learn to deal with feelings of isolation by spending time alone and learning to overcome them.