Paper Mario and Shy Guys - The World of Children

Last time I spoke of Paper Mario, I touched upon the intricate ways of the Shy Guy characters, and talked briefly about their world in the 4^th Chapter of the game. Today I would like to expand on their world a little, talking of things I noticed and loved about the world, and thought lots about.

Recall that Shy Guy’s Toy Box is essentially the world of children, created by children. Crafted by Shy Guys, the place is a joy to be in. Colors everywhere, drawings, blocks and toys, it is a place where play never ends. As I explored it more though, I noticed some key things about it, that got me thinking a lot about children and myself:

-The Toy Box is a small normal box to the real world, and no one thinks much of it. But when you venture inside the Toy Box, there’s a huge bright imaginative world all around you. Isn’t this exactly how the mind and worlds of a child are like compared to the real world? Seen as ordinary and insignificant in the real world, but when you really get into it find it’s a world of fun and imagination?

-There’s even part where you take an ordinary toy train that no one in the real world cares much about, but when you place it inside the box, it becomes a vehicle to ride and play around in. Isn’t that also the way we see toys? Adults and the world see them as small and insignificant, but to a child it’s a magical toy that can provide for many fun adventures.

-In the happy go lucky fun innocent Toy Box of Shy Guys, there are bright fun rooms everywhere, and yet…..in the farthest part of the Toy Box, at a far corner of it, there is a dark room; a room with no light at all, only darkness. No one is there, except for one lonely ghost who loves the dark, who happens to look like a big shy guy type ghost. This room sent thoughts racing through my mind, why is there a dark room in this childlike colored area? What does it mean? Does it say something about the world of children, and children themselves? Does it say that for all their happiness they have a dark lonely side? What do you think it means and says about children? And what of the ghost figure, is there a reason why he’s a bigger Shy Guy? Is he supposed to represent adults in a child’s world?

I hope you enjoyed my random ramblings and thoughts on this world of Paper Mario, things like this that make me think a lot about myself and the world are always favorites, so I did greatly enjoy thinking and discussing this.