The mythology behind Iron John

Iron John is a book, which was written by an American Poet Robert Bly in the year 1990. This book is on the subject of – Men. The author has tried to explore the mythology and the deep-rooted cultural traditions of a specific dynamic male mode of feeling. This feeling as described by Bly is a forceful combination of fierceness and tenderness, which was sacrificed to the demands of the industrial revolution at that time.

Iron John revolves around a wild man and a prince. Most of us see the story as a the tale of a young boy who is maturing into adulthood. The author of the book – Iron John - Robert Bly had great faith in fairytales, according to him they all contained some lessons that were important to men of all times.

The author also appeared in a television interview with Keith Thompson – "What do Men really want?"- The interview was also published in New Age Journal in the year 1982 and was sold out in the form of pamphlets.

The Iron John book took to the stores very quickly and was a major hit in the US. It was found that men were taking some king of lessons from the book and found it to contain great wisdom! The book evoked several arguments from the female fraternity claiming the author to be guilty of over interpretation. He was accused to be guilty of essentialism and biological determinism. The story about Iron John relates to the deep-rooted unruliness and roughness that is inherent of a man. The physical strength of a man can be extremely dangerous of it is not controlled. The first interpretation is that when a man reaches adulthood, it is advisable to discard some childish things which is at times a symbol of defiance on the part of an adult. The particular act of stealing a ball from under the mother's pillow in the story is in reality the defiance of the mother figure and her authority in order for Iron John to gain independence.

The story about Iron John was analyzed in depth and was used to examine the inner nature of man. Bly's book advocated a return of a stronger, more masculine man (in the traditional sense), but one who also respected modern-day feminist values. This is how Iron John gained true recognition.