The Wild Child - Themes

Themes

The Wild Child was released in the middle of the "flower child" era, which favored the Romantic idea of the "noble savage" over rationalism and civilization. The term "noble savage" is derived from John Dryden's The Conquest of Granada and the Rousseauian idea of humans being basically good in their most primitive state that had long been championed by Romantics and hippies. Many viewers interpreted the film in this way when first viewing it, but many critics and spectators began to notice that Truffaut seemed to be criticizing the concept of the "noble savage" and taking the side of the rationalists. In a publicity release for the film, Truffaut wrote "From Romulus and Remus through Mowgli and Tarzan, men have continually been fascinated by tales of beast children. It may be that in these stories of abandoned infants, reared by wolves, bears, or apes, they see a symbol of the extraordinary destiny of our race. Or it may be simply that they harbor a secret hankering after a natural existence." Film critic Mireille Amiel was disappointed by this aspect of the film and by Truffaut, asking "How can the rebel of The 400 Blows place himself alongside the oppressor, even one as sympathetic as Itard?" and adding "the astonishing thing is that Truffaut the filmmaker is better than Truffaut the man, and that we can accept the interest and beauty of this film at the same time that we're violently opposed to its content." In the film, when Victor is first found he is covered with scars from conflict with other animals in the wild, and Truffaut's interpretation makes it clear that civilization, and especially human communication, is a far better life for Victor than in the wild.