The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy
One of Tim Burton’s poems I truly enjoyed was Mummy Boy.
There are many examples of Burtonesque and Jungian concepts within the poem.
Mummy boy himself is a trickster, one of Carl Jung’s archetypes. He attempts to
play with the other children but his choice of games, “an ancient game of
vergin sacrifice,” alienates him from the others. His appearance and
strangeness is what eventually leaves him feeling alone, a concept seen in
almost all of Burton’s art and films. Burton also uses the concept of dogs as
companions for his characters in many of his works. This can be seen in Mummy
Boy when a white mummy dog appeared from fog one day and became Mummy Boy’s
pet. Mummy Boy was rejected by his parents since the day he was born due to his
appearance. His parents even called Mummy Boy a reject. Mummy Boy’s grotesque
appearance was said to be caused by “an old pharoah's curse." The idea of
the pharoah’s curse could be Jung’s sorcerer archetype. Burton himself felt
different from the rest of his family and alienated himself from them. Mummy
Boy’s strangeness and appearance eventually leads to his unfortunate end.
Children mistook him for a piñata and burst his head open thinking he was
filled with candy and toys. From his birth it seems that Mummy Boy was
misunderstood and was far from innocent. Burton does this in many of his
characters. Burton uses children in some grotesque and adult situations that
rid them of their innocence, while in reality they are still just harmless
children. Mummy Boy provides the prefect example of how Tim Burton uses his
concepts, ideas and experiences in many, if not all, of his works.
Natasha Martinez-
ReplyDeleteGoing off on what you said about the element of "grotesque," I think its interesting that he makes these images of children so eerie. The grotesqueness that he uses gives a very freakish twist to the stories about children. The image of the mummy and the fact that he wants to play games with sacrifices is very grotesque which is something Burton is known for. The violent image of the children bursting Mummy Boy's head shows to the extent that the children mistook him for. Even though people may think it strange that he use violence and grotesqueness when depicting children as inappropriate, I think it leaves an impact on the readers as they learn more about Burton and outsiders through his works.