Today’s men are confused and directionless as to what they should do in their lives. Iron John tries to give direction as to what they should do in order for men to reach their maximum potential and what it is to be a man
This book explores the journey a man must take in order to become a man from a young boy. In the first few sections of the book. You will notice the mention of a Wild man. But there is a difference between a wild man and a savage one.
A savage man destroys the soul, earth, and mankind and someone who is wounded but chooses not to examine it. While a Wild man is someone who acknowledges he is wounded and takes measures to heal himself and thus is like a priest or shaman.
As we explore the book, we come across the change in men’s attitudes in the past decade. When the draft for Vietnam was going on, many men questioned it. If this is what manliness is, do I want to be a part of it? Many men felt disconnected from what was going on and at that particular time, there was a strong feminist movement going on.
The rise of the feminist movement led to another kind of man, the “soft man”. These are men who are life-preserving, who don’t want to dominate the world, not take bull by the horns, and who are content with being a life preserver.
While there is nothing wrong with these men as they are generally nice people, they are not exactly life-giving either. You often see them with strong women who radiate energy. This arrangement worked for a while in the last decades or so but it certainly is not working out now.
In every relationship, we need something fierce occasionally which both men and women should have, but the “soft men” lack the resolve to say what they want and stick by it. He is more concerned with pleasing everybody.
The Iron John
The story starts with a king who something in the nearby pond in the forest that makes people. He has employed many hunters and they never came back. After some time an unknown hunter comes with a dog and agrees to investigate the lake.
After going near the lake a large hand comes from the lake and drags the dog down. The hunter returns to the castle, brings some more men, empties the lake, and finds a giant man with reddish skin like rusted iron with hair all over his body from head to toe. He is imprisoned in a cell. The key to the cell is given to the queen.
This is just the first part. As you realize by now there are a lot of metaphors here.
The wild man represents the ancient primitive man that every man has deep within his psyche. A lot of men have yet to find this side of themselves and it is a journey every young man must take. But, finding this inner wild man is dangerous.
Society wants men not to be receptive and only give to society, like tools. But, when men start to accept their receptive it is freeing.
When a man makes contact with the Wild man it is risky, as he also has to accept his nourishing dark side. This side of men is rarely talked about and is something that needs to be explored more.
Journey Of Becoming A Man
There is another metaphor for a golden ball. There is a price in Iron John story who is approximately 8 years old. One day his golden ball while playing with it, ends up in Iron John’s cage and when he asks for it, he says he will give in under one condition, if he opens the door and sets him free.
This golden ball symbolizes the unity of personality we had as a child, full of energy and radiance. In order to regain this, we first need to admit we have lost it. Some men are not able to get their golden ball back even after they enter late adulthood.
The Wildman mentioned in the book has the ball and you can’t take it back from him by being nice. The first step the price has to do is to steal the key from his mother’s pillow, as that’s where the prison cell’s key is.
Wildman doesn’t symbolize cruelty, it is a forceful action undertaken with resolve.
The book discusses the trials and tribulations a man must go through in his life to find his true self. It also includes one of the main points a man must do, get away from his father and mother and go into the wilderness (metaphorically of course) and find a new mentor and he has learned from his father.
The adversities and rites of passage and described in more detail in the book. It is a must-read for all men who want to realize their full potential and also ones raising their sons, as this book would help you in raising them in a more proper way.