Martinez- Jimmy, the Hideous Penguin Boy

The poem- Jimmy, the Hideous Penguin Boy, illustrates Tim Burton’s childhood abandonment and depicts the Jungian archetype of the shadow. “My name is Jimmy, but my friends just call me ‘the hideous penguin boy;” is short and concise yet it gives a very powerful meaning. By him saying, “My name is Jimmy” he is stating how he identifies himself and then immediately we read the rest of the poem, which says that his “friends” call him “the hideous penguin boy.” Although he sees himself one way he knows that the way he sees himself is not how he is viewed by everyone else. He acknowledges that he is known as something else in the eyes of other people, which is reflective of Burton’s childhood as his parents saw him as strange even though for him his interests would not have been considered strange to himself. He also uses the term “friends” which is ironic because “the hideous penguin boy” is not an endearing nickname that a friend would give to someone they liked. It could be suggested that this boy doesn’t actually have any friends but people around his age call him that. The way that Jimmy is misunderstood illustrates the way that Burton felt he was understood growing up. Jimmy represents the Jungian archetype of ‘The Shadow’ because he is an outsider to the rest of the world. Without even reading the poem, the illustration depicts that Jimmy is a shadow by the way he is colored. He has a white face with some grey on it and he is wearing black clothing and he leaves a grey shadow where he is standing. We can tell he is an outsider by this illustration because the background is red stripes, which contrasts his dark being. We can infer that by Jimmy being in the shadow he feels unseen or neglected. The red stripes could represent all the ‘noise’ of society. The illustration is important because it shows the emotion of Jimmy on his face so we know that he feels very lonely and misunderstood by the rest of the world. The illustration further conveys feelings of sympathy to the audience towards Jimmy and all outsiders. Jimmy, the Hideous Penguin Boy reflects how Burton felt alone and like an outsider during his childhood; it also successfully portrays the Jungian archetype of ‘The Shadow.’