Why is Amelia Shown Taking Worms to Feed the Babadook at the End of the Film?
During the climax of The Babadook (2014), Amelia (Essie Davis) “confronts” The Babadook by asserting her power over the monster. She shouts that she won’t let it in, repeating phrases like “this is my house,” which is likely a metaphor meaning “I am in control of myself,” with her mind reflecting the domestic landscape in which the Babadook dwells. Amelia’s showdown with her inner demons brings everything to rest, and she’s able to function “normally” for the first time since her husband’s death.
At the end of the film, Amelia and her son Sam (Noah Wiseman) are digging in the yard, collecting worms. Amelia carries a bowl of worms down to the deep recesses of the basement, where it’s implied The Babadook resides. The shadowy basement seemingly symbolizes the Carl Jung’s pyschological concept of the “shadow aspect,” which is the unknown dark aspect of an individual’s personality. In the story, Amelia looks at a few of her late husband’s belongings and puts the worms on the floor, where they are snatched by the invisible monster. After returning to the yard, Sam asks her, “How was it this time?” She replies positively.
This scene reminds the viewer that while a person may achieve closure with dark and negative feelings, they still may remain in the subconcious mind lying dormant. While Amelia may have “defeated” the creature and made peace with the negative, hateful emotions in the shadow aspect of her personality, the captive Babadook reminds us that this part of her will never fully disappear. She has, however, learned to control her demons and make peace with the way things are by accepting the dark bits of her psyche. She’s able to view her deceased husband’s things without trepidation. She’s able to confront the causes of the Babadook without falling prey to them - but they will always exist within her.
Carl Jung said “To confront a person with his own Shadow is to show him his own light.” (“Good and Evil in Analytical Psychology” (1959))
Now that Amelia has seen the Babadook, she can live without being at the whim of its dark impulses.