He found elements of " Horton " in earlier Dr . Seuss works, most notably the 1938 short story " Matilda, the Elephant with a Mother Complex ".
12.
For instance, in a " negative mother complex, " the archetype of the " negative mother " would be seen to be central to the identity of that complex.
13.
Against this, Hillman has argued that the " puer " is not under the sway of a mother complex but that it is best seen in relation to the " senex " or father archetype.
14.
The most telling is " maza kon, " derived from the English expression " mother complex, " and it means a mama's boy : a wimp who doesn't want to go climb Mount Fuji and who doesn't know how to cook rice.
15.
In 1938, two years before " Horton Hatches the Egg ", " Judge " published perhaps the most obvious precursor to " Horton ", " Matilda, the Elephant with a Mother Complex ", a short story by Geisel about an " old maid elephant " who sits on a chickadee egg until it hatches, only to have the newborn chickadee fly away from her.
