56 pages • 1 hour read
Francesca ZappiaEliza and Her Monsters
Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2017A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Symbols & Motifs
Monstrous Sea
As Eliza’s passion and creation, the Monstrous Sea webcomic represents creativity, escapism, joy, and self-worth. The webcomic is Eliza’s obsession, and she treats it with love, respect, and adoration. She makes it “because there’s something inside of [her], crushed around [her] heart, that says [she] must do it. This is what [she] was put on Earth to create, for [her] and for [her] fans” (9). The act of creating the comic is an enjoyable escape from everyday life, where she often feels misunderstood and unhappy. She fills it with powerful fantasy characters who bring her and many others comfort, entertainment, and bliss. In fact, she cares about Monstrous Sea more than anything, solidifying it as a source of purpose and joy. Only through being LadyConstellation does Eliza find value in herself; her work gives her confidence and propels her journey of self-love.
Toward the conclusion, the comic also functions as a source of conflict and guilt for Eliza because she’s lost her motivation to work on it. Eliza doesn’t feel worthy unless she’s a successful creator, like she’s doing herself, the fans, and the story a disservice: “I feel like I’m letting the story down. Like I’m not worthy of it because I couldn’t finish it” (336). Eliza eventually learns to love herself separately from her art and finds inspiration from the Children of Hypnos books, which allows her to make progress with her mental health, identity, and self-worth. Monstrous Sea is revived to act as her means of healthy escape, creativity, and happiness—especially because it repairs her relationship with Wallace.
Wellhouse Turn
The dangerous, deadly stretch of road in Westcliff is a recurring presence in the novel. It first appears to Eliza as a sign of everything that’s wrong with her town, but it takes on more serious resonances when it is revealed as the place where Wallace’s father died. The turn is a strong symbol of how one can lose control and fall into a dangerous situation. Wallace must face the turn and its painful memories, and he copes by driving so slowly that Eliza worries about him: “Too slow. Too steady. He’s more afraid he’s going to go over the edge than anyone else I’ve ever met” (215). He can’t avoid the turn, but he chooses to tackle this area with utmost caution. Likewise, Eliza must face her own mental health crisis at the turn, when she experiences suicidal ideation: “Anyone who sees a car stopped at Wellhouse Turn will know what I’m doing here. […] Everything will work better when I’m gone, anyway” (350). The symbolic turn gives her an escape route, like Wallace’s father, to end her mental and emotional turmoil, but Eliza ultimately chooses to pursue other, healthier forms of respite.
“Um”
The word “um” is used over 25 times in the book, and it is a motif of avoidance, anxiety, and communication. The word is used when characters don’t know what to say or how to respond, such as when Eliza can’t believe Wallace is the writer rainmaker:
‘Um,’ is a delightfully complex word. ‘Um’ means ‘I want to say something but don’t know what it is,’ and also ‘You have caught me off guard,’ and also ‘Am I dreaming right now? Someone please slap me’ (178).
Eliza and Wallace use “um” to ward off talking more, evoking their anxiety over in-person social interaction. Sometimes, the characters want to leave things unsaid and be quiet. For example, Eliza says “um” often when she doesn’t want to elaborate about a topic, as she does when Wallace’s stepfather asks about her day. She’s shy and wants to avoid conversation, so she uses “um” often as a filler word. Other times, she may want to talk, but her anxiety takes control and she can only utter the word “um” as her full response.
The Angels
The Angels are characters from Monstrous Sea and also the online usernames of Wallace, Megan, Cole, Leece, and Chandra. The Angels symbolize control, balance, peace, and the bridge between online and offline relationships. The Angels’ backstory in Eliza’s comic is what inspires Wallace and his friends to choose usernames based on them: “[T]he Angels are the ones who keep the planet in balance. When something—like the corrupted hand of the Alliance—threatens that balance, they intervene. These Angels keep the balance on my forums, as moderators” (116). Each of them is dedicated to maintaining the Monstrous Sea web pages, supervising things like the live chats and role-playing boards. They are symbolic peacekeepers who have some control of the fame and influence of Eliza’s comics by spreading the news, analyzing her story, sharing fan art, interacting in live chats, etc. Since Eliza meets them all in person, they also symbolize her online and offline life overlapping; she becomes friends with them off screen rather than only knowing them via the internet.
