Hasty- The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy & Other Stories

         Tim Burton’s poem, “Brie Boy,” speaks of a young boy whose head is literally made of a block of cheese. Brie Boy dreams twice that his head of cheese turns from a block into a slice. Jung spoke of the Self, meaning the conscious part of the human psyche. According to Jung, it is known that the Self seeks wholeness through becoming his or her own personal individual. The movement of Self is toward finding wholeness in life. Brie Boy relates to this because he quite literally dreams of no longer being whole. He dreams (twice) that he loses a whole of himself to just getting a slice instead. This shows Burton’s neuroses of loss. To continue on with this, as Brie Boy goes out he still has a full block of cheese as a head. People only see him with this full block, but little do they know he has a frightened fear of losing himself that is only displayed in his dreams. This can relate to The Persona aspect behind Jung’s archetypes because in a way the fact that the other children around him do not see his fear makes it seem like Brie Boy is carrying around a mask. He has a face that other people see versus the fear that is actually happening when he is alone.

            In biographical criticism, it is immediately assumed that there are links between the author’s life and the piece of art coming from that author. In the case of Burton and Brie Boy, their linkage is easily seen in the second stanza. This stanza states, “The other children never let Brie Boy play… / …but at least he went well with a nice Chardonnay.” Burton was always an outsider and he always seemed different. Even as a child he never fit in with the other children. Brie Boy is like Burton in this way, because he was different and had a block of cheese for a head he was excluded as well from the other children as well. This shows Burton’s neuroses of abandonment and isolation. On a brighter side, even though both Burton and Brie Boy were isolated from the children around them as they were growing up it is noticed in both of them their great qualities. For example, Burton is known today as an amazing artist with so much talent and Brie Boy goes well with a nice Chardonnay.