A Monster Calls

Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2011

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Summary

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapters 1-6

Chapters 7-12

Chapters 13-18

Chapters 19-26

Chapters 27-32

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Tools

Beta

Discussion Questions

Symbols & Motifs

The Yew Tree

The yew tree, the monster’s preferred form, symbolizes the dual nature of death and healing in the novel. Found throughout England, yew trees earned the nickname “graveyard trees” because they are often found on burial grounds, much like the yew tree was planted on the parsonage grounds in the monster’s second tale. Yew trees are also ancient trees that, as the monster explains, can “live for thousands of years” (105). They are extremely deadly, because their berries are highly toxic and can be fatal if consumed. The berries left on Conor’s bedroom floor after the monster’s second visit serve as a warning that the monster is not to be underestimated or disrespected, and the berries emphasize its connection to death.

The monster also claims that “The yew tree is the most important of all the healing trees” (105). As seen in the story of the Apothecary and the Parson, the yew tree can be used for all manners of healing. The final medicine attempted by the doctors is not fictional: Yew trees are used in the treatment of various cancers, and the drugs have a surprisingly high rate of success. Placing the yew tree at the center of a novel that is about terminal illness— and, very likely, a type of cancer— is a very deliberate move on the author’s part, but the implications do not stop at physical healing.

The monster claims that it did not come to heal Conor’s mother, but Conor himself. A Monster Calls is not just about physical illness, but mental illness as well. Conor’s own health is rapidly declining as a result of his own guilt, shame, anger, and depression. His refusal to “Speak the truth” (185) about his nightmare is slowly killing him, and the monster remarks that “You were willing to die rather than speak it” (192). The monster came in the form of the yew tree to heal the heart and soul of a child who was engulfed by pain and sadness to the point of near death, and to offer him hope in a hopeless situation. The duality of the yew tree—life and death found in one organism—serves as a reminder that life is complicated. A tree that can heal can also kill. A witch can also be a good queen. A well-intentioned prince can also be a murderer. A greedy Apothecary can also be a healer, and a little boy who loves his mother can also accept her death.

The Time 12:07

The first time Conor meets the monster, the time is 12:07am. Every time the monster comes to see Conor, the time is 12:07, although there are a few variations. When the monster visits him at Grandma’s house, Conor has broken the hands of her prize clock and the hands fell on 12:07. When Conor attacks Harry at school, the cafeteria clock reads 12:07 for noon, not midnight. When Conor comes to the graveyard and kicks the monster awake, he announces “I don’t care what time it is!” (170), and the monster eventually wakes up. Even with these exceptions, Conor is aware that 12:07 is the monster’s chosen time to come see him, and throughout the novel, the question lingers: why does the monster come at this time?

In many cultures, midnight is regarded as a particularly mystical time of night when the separation between the spirit world and the human world becomes blurred. Strange, spooky, unexplainable things are reported to happen after midnight, and this time of night is often called the “witching hour.” This may also signal a time of night when a person’s circadian rhythm can increase the chances of hallucinations, nightmares, sleep paralysis, or other intense sleep experiences. Similarly, the number 7 has strong spiritual ties to perfection, holiness, and the link between human and otherworldly beings. Ness alludes to these traditions through his choice of 12:07 as the monster’s time, intentionally blurring the line between fantasy and reality, as the monster itself is an ambiguous figure in the story.

However, as Conor later discovers, the time 12:07 is significant to the situation with his mother. He asks the monster “Why do you always come at 12:07?” (193), but the monster never answers him directly. Instead, Conor stands in his mother’s hospital room in the final scene and notices that the time is 11:46, or “Twenty-one minutes before 12:07” (202). Conor is tempted to ask the monster what will happen at 12:07, but he doesn’t, “Because it felt like he knew” (203). Conor understands that 12:07 signifies the time that his mother will pass away, and this is why the monster always comes at this particular time.

Conor’s Nightmare

Present throughout the novel, Conor’s nightmare is the most explicit symbol in the novel. In the most literal sense, Conor’s nightmare involves a giant monster pulling his mother over the edge of a cliff into an abyss as Conor holds her hands, desperate to keep her from falling. Conor finds the weight too heavy to bear, and he loosens his grip and lets his mother fall into the abyss.

In the bigger picture of Conor’s real life, the nightmare is a metaphor for his mother’s fight with her illness. The monster from the nightmare represents his mother’s illness: “formed of cloud and ash and dark flames [...] and flashing teeth that would eat his mother alive” (179). It is too big for Conor to fight, and he knows he is outmatched and can’t stop the force of nature that is this creature, just like he knows that he can’t fight his mother’s illness. The nightmare monster tries to drag her down into the abyss, which signifies death. Conor’s grip on his mother’s hands signifies his refusal to give up on her. However, the big secret that he has been hiding is that he intentionally lets her go at the end of the dream.

At first, he denies this and tells the monster “She fell [...] I couldn’t hold on to her anymore. She got so heavy” (185). But finally, Conor admits the truth. He let her go, and his decision to let her go represents Conor’s secret desire that he “want[s] it to be over” (188). Conor has been carrying the burden of his mother’s illness for over a year. After a year of watching her suffer, a year of dealing with the loneliness at school, a year of uncertainty and pain and shame, he just wants both her and his suffering to end. In his mind, Conor believes that his nightmare reveals what a bad person he is: who would let go of their own mother when she needed help?

The monster uses the nightmare to explain to Conor that his shame is unfounded. It is not Conor’s fault that this is happening to his mother, and it is not his responsibility to save his mother. Conor tried his best to help his mother in the nightmare, just like he tried his best to help her in the real world, but he is only a child, and some monsters—like his mother’s illness— cannot be defeated by anyone. The nightmare is Conor’s greatest source of shame, but also the tool used to heal Conor and free him of that shame, as Conor learns that letting go is both freeing and necessary.

The Three Tales

The three tales are tools used by the monster to prepare Conor to confront the truth about his nightmare. Although the tales are vastly different from one another, they all have one thing in common: the monster was present for the stories and becomes a character in each of them. He rescues the queen in the first tale, destroys the Parson’s home in the second, and attacks the enemies of the invisible man in the third.

The first tale sets the precedent that the tales will not end the way that Conor expects. There will always be a trick ending, or as Conor calls it, “a cheat.” An innocent girl is killed, the expected hero turns out to be a murderer, and the wicked queen wasn’t wicked after all. The monster uses this story to show Conor that true stories are often full of chaos and illogical endings. Life is messy and cruel, and people do not always get what they deserve. The monster explains that “There is not always a good guy. Nor is there always a bad one. Most people are somewhere in between” (64). This story comes on the heels of Conor’s argument with his grandmother, and he easily casts her as the “wicked queen” in the story before it even begins. By the end of the first tale, Conor is forced to accept that like the queen, his grandmother might not be as wicked as he thought.

This idea continues into the next tale, and Conor is again furious—this time because the Parson was punished, not the Apothecary. This tale further illustrates the complicated nature of human beings. The Parson and the Apothecary both believed that their beliefs were correct, but the monster chose to punish the Parson because he refused to give up the yew tree. The tree could have healed countless people, but because the Parson valued tradition over what was best for others, he refused. This story comes on the heels of Conor’s argument with his dad about coming to live with him in America. The monster tells him that it will be a story about “a man who thought only of himself [...] And he gets punished very, very badly indeed” (98). Conor again hopes for a story that will alleviate his rage, but instead, his rage is exacerbated to the point that he destroys Grandma’s sitting room. Conor wants the monster to confirm his sense of fairness, rather than to confront the difficult truth that even people who love Conor sometimes behave in unfair ways.

The third tale is the most unique, because Conor seems to be the “invisible man” that the monster is talking about. This tale explores the idea that “invisible men [can] make themselves more lonely by being seen” (191): after Conor attacks Harry, people stop avoiding looking at him and openly stare at him, but he is still more lonely than ever. The tales all serve to highlight the duality of humans and to show how “good” and “bad” are incredibly subjective. This story prepares Conor to confront his own ambivalent feelings about his mother’s death with more nuance and patience.