Kanga And Roo's Relationships

As a child, I loved crawling into bed while my mother or father read me a bedtime story. There were shelves of books all around my room, and my favorite collection was located closest to my bed, my Winnie the Pooh book series. I watched Winnie the Pooh videos and read all of the books growing up and became very familiar with the characters. As I watched the interactions between the characters as a kid, I saw a fun loving group of animal friends who loved spending time together. Just as Christopher Robin began to grow up and get a bit too old for his friends in the One Hundred Acre Woods I too got older and grew over my obsession with the characters from the story. Maybe the characters were no longer relatable to me and I could not see any
lessons that could possibly be learned from fictional characters in a children’s book. Little did I know that as I grew up the characters would prove to be more relatable to my life and I could learn from their flaws and insecurities and apply their characters to many situations faced throughout life.
The characters at first glance seem to be sweet and carefree with no worries in the world, besides Eyeore that is, but what happens when you take these animals to the clinic to get them checked out for mental disorders? Now that is a whole other story. According to Shea,Gordon, Hawkins, Kawchuk, & Smith (2000) The One Hundred Acre Woods is filled with many problems and troubles. Not only can people enjoy the stories of these stuffed animal friends, but they can learn from their imperfections and understand that life is not always as wonderful as it seems. The article suggests that once the characters are diagnosed many of them could be put on medication to control their symptoms and allow them to live a fairly normal and happy life. When you dig down deep into the characters personalities it is rather obvious the disorders they are dealing with. The first step is to diagnose before one is able to be treated, so it is important to discover what disorders the characters have. First in line at the clinic is Piglet. Piglet is a very kind and loyal friend to Pooh bear, but the problem with Piglet is he tends to act shy and timid in many situations. His timid disposition often grows into feelings of anxiousness and uncertainty. After examining Piglet it is clear that he struggles from an anxiety disorder. It turns out Piglet is more like some of the people I come into contact in life than I thought. Rabbit is next, and it seems Rabbit has most areas of his life under control. Rabbit is smart, organized, helpful, good at making plans, and dependable. Many of these characteristics are positive and good attributes to hold, but if they get a little extreme such as the case with Rabbit, you may realize there is a bit of OCD taking place. Rabbit will now begin to deal with the fact he has obsessive compulsive disorder which will consume a good amount of his thoughts and life.
Eeyore probably has the most obvious symptoms of a disorder, for he is constantly complaining and moping around. He always has a negative attitude and is very gloomy and down. It is clear the Eeyore is dealing with bipolar disorder, and he may need to be treated. Tigger, a good friend of Eeyore has a fun, adventurous personality, but have you ever thought about the fact that he can never sit still or stop from moving around? He is always bouncing around the woods with an endless amount of energy and a lack of focus. Tigger may not just be energetic, but he may have a case of ADHD (Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder). It may be a good idea for Tigger to get on some medication to get his ADHD regulated and under control.
Kanga and Roo, the mother and son kangaroo’s have plenty struggles of their own.
Kanga is an extremely overprotective mother, and this is going to have an effect on both Kanga and Roo, and their future relationship. According to Shea et. Al (2000) the first problem with their relationship is the struggles Kanga has with being a single parent. She is very possessive over her only child, and eventually it will become harmful as it will inhibit Roo from living his own life and becoming an individual. The sweet loving mother son relationship in the Pooh Bear series has many more problems than I had previously noticed. I believe this is one of the most relatable issues brought up among the characters because it is common for children growing up to have an over-involved parent, or the opposite, a parent who does not show any concern where they may wish to have a relationship more like Kanga and Roo. From this relationship you can learn the positives and negatives and discern when you may be crossing the
boundaries.
Owl is a very wise friend to all of the characters in the story. Many go to owl for advice and take his suggestions incredibly seriously. Owl is a bright guy, but he has an issue that he is constantly trying to cover up, and that is his dyslexia. Owl’s struggle with dyslexia is extremely hard on him because he is highly respected and looked at as being smart and wise, so he does not want to come off as being dumb or show that he struggles with reading and writing. If owl would be more open about his struggle he may have been able to receive some help, but the longer his dyslexia goes without being treated the harder it will be for him to overcome it.
Winnie the Pooh, the main character of these stories is so kind and lovable.
Pooh bear is not the most intelligent character in the books, but he does not really mind his lack of intelligence. He is care-free and gets very excited about honey. Many stories focus on his hunt for honey, and he is happiest when there is honey in his honey jar. Some may think Pooh has everything together and is the most normal of all the characters, but I would like to propose an analysis of his character and suggest he may have a certain degree of mental retardation. Many individuals with this disorder are not affected by their lack of cognitive abilities or understanding and go through life with a positive attitude and a smile on their face. Pooh, although he may have this disability is extremely happy and will get through life just fine with a bit of care from his friends, especially his loving friend Christopher
Robin.
Christopher Robin is the one character in these books who is a real boy and not a stuffed animal. Chris is a good friend to all the animals in the woods and takes them under his wings. He is an intelligent boy who attends school and loves to teach his friends what he learns when he arrives home. He goes on adventures with the animals and is always cheerful and positive. It may seem that Christopher is perfectly healthy, but there is one point that we have yet to consider. Christopher Robin is a boy, and all of his friends are stuffed animals. Chris is living in a fantasy world with imaginary friends. Is he delusional, or maybe psychotic? He may even have a case of schizophrenia and he needs to begin interacting with some other boys and girls his age and learn to let go of his imaginary friends as he gets older. Maybe this will happen naturally, or he will need to be institutionalized if it remains this way for too long.
It is expected for life to hold many hardships, and as for the wonderful life in The Hundred Acre Woods, it is clear that life is not always as perfect as it seems. The writer of this series may not have been intended to portray these characters as having these mental disorders, but whether the intention was behind it or not, there is enough support to show there are imperfections that lie behind each of these stuffed animal characters. These flaws are not necessarily negative though, for real life consists of many imperfections, and the stories show that spectators realize life is rough, and it is important to have friends along the way to help and balance one another out. Each character could turn to a friend for help or encouragement, and together they made a great team. While there were many weaknesses among the animals, there were positive attributes in each of them that made them lovable and popular amongst children of all ages.