Tim Burton uses different
archetypes in his poems from his book The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy and
Other Stories that give away the some of the character’s feelings and
personality. The poem book in general is a collection of characters that Burton
can relate to and characters that also relate to those in his films. Most of
the poems do not have a happy ending to them depending on how you view the poem
given an interpretation. I could definitely see the ego, self, and soul
archetype in most of the poems in the book. Majority talks about being naïve,
the need to belong, making an effort to blend in, connecting their life to
Burton’s.
I think that the poem Melonhead portrays a few characteristics of
archetypes Burton used in order for the reader to understand the character’s
situation and also relate it to Burton’s. The poem starts with “There once was
a morose melonhead” already letting the reader know that this character is
unhappy, very serious, melancholic. Burton in a way was introvert and unassuming
so maybe this was a time when he was very upset. It then goes on to say that
the boy wishes to be dead; that is an ego archetype that shows desire to
connect with others, the need to belong, fearful of being left out. Melonhead
probably reached a point in his life where he thought that being dead would
allow him to reach his goal of being happy. Melonhead: he sat alone so maybe he
wanted to be with someone and this could relate to Burton how he felt out of
place living in the cheery Burbank. Still with the ego archetype, later in the
poem Melonhead gets what he wished for: he dies. That stanza shows his weakness
and how he lost himself in desire to be dead; or if you look at it differently,
it could be a happy ending since he got what he wanted.
i like how you connect the introverted nature that Burton had to the introverted nature of Melonhead. you connect Burtons childhood to Melonhead's very well and i think a connection could even be made to how since Burton had more of an alienated childhood than most, he felt as Melonhead did but as an adult sees how detrimental those thoughts were and gives a warning to younger generations not to wish for such things because you can go on to benefit from your oddities. This poem is one of the darker ones of Burton and i think he keeps it this way to really prove a point of how alienation isn't the end of the world but letting it rule your thoughts can end up being the end of your world.
ReplyDeleteisabela vielma