A Monster Calls Essay

The series Twilight Zone is a show that combines science fiction with society. Every episode ends with a shocking, unexpected twist. “The Monsters Are Due On Maple Street” is an episode that informs society about the fear of prejudice and hysteria. In this episode, a loud shadow in the sky passes through Maple Street. The shadow is actually a meteor. Unexpected and strange things start to happen like the electricity and cars turning off. The people who live on Maple become very curious on what the meteor has done to the neighbors living on the street. A young boy named Tommy tells the adults that everything weird happening is because of the aliens from outer space, which he read about in a comic book. First the

Think about a time, where wild accusations occurred due to a power outage. This is exactly what happened during “Rod Serlings” teleplay. In the 1960s version, “The Monsters on maple street” (2003 Movie). During the unexpected power outages, neighbors accuse neighbors of aliens from a different planet. On the other hand, in the 2003 movie, terrorists were suspected of attacking a neighborhood. Even though both sections are difficult, scared people with fear can cause them to turn against each other.

Kody Scott grew up in South Central L.A. during the nineteen-sixties and seventies, soon after the creation of the Crips. Raised in poverty without a father, and a full family raised solely by his mother, Kody Scott led the stereotypical "ghetto" life, a poor and broken home. However he does not blame this on his own personal decision to join the Crips while only eleven year's old. The allure of the respect and "glory" that "bangers" got, along with the unity of the "set"(name for the specific gang) is what drew him into the gang. Once joined, he vowed to stay in the "set" for life, and claimed that banging was his life. After many years of still believing this, he

“Fear and euphoria are dominant forces, and fear is many multiples the size of euphoria” - Alan Greenspan. New York author, Alan Greenspan, here is explaining that the threat fear presents is really no different than the state of intensity caused by euphoria. In Andrew J. Hoffman’s anthology, Monsters, there is substantial evidence that both fear and euphoria are inflicted upon men, by female monsters. The two threats men typically face against women are temptation and emasculation. Thus, in mythology and folklore, female monsters exemplify the impulse of desire (sexually) for men, and male weakness. These are creature that are lusted after and yet, still feared because of their power. Men find female monsters both fearsome and euphoric and will always threaten their dominance and control.

Time for wacky grandma and annoying dad! Conors grandma is not your everyday normal grandma. “[Conor] met Lily’s grandma...she was how grandmas were supposed to be: crinkly and smiley, with white hair and the whole lot” (Ness 38). Instead Patrick generates Conors grandma as one who; “[wears] tailored pantsuits, dyed her hair to keep out of the gray, and said things that made no sense at all, like ‘Sixty is the fifty’” (Ness 39). Patrick also lets the reader see who Conors grandma really is, such as; “Conors grandma pinched Conor’s cheek so hard he swore she was going to draw blood” (Ness 38). She is seen to be very negative and harsh to Conor throughout the story, saying that Conor must accept the inevitable (in this case, his moms death), but she is doing it for the sake of Conor, he refuses to listen to her since he sees her as a negative vibe that is bad for him and his mom. Not only did his grandmother come to see her daughter, but Conors dad as well, all the way from America. Conors mom invites Conors

The United States judicial system says that you are innocent until proven guilty. In language arts class we read a book called Monster, by Walter Dean Myers. Monster is about a 16 year old boy named Steve Harmon, and how he had to go on a trial for felony murder. The book is set as if Steve is making a screenplay. At the end of the book Steve is proven innocent, and free to go, but I believe that there was not enough information for Steve to be proven guilty. The jury did not see many parts of the story that readers of the book Monster read, for example, in his journal Steve writes about wanting to be like King, he also has flashbacks to before the crime that show him interacting with other members of the crime, and finally he had a lot of really close people doubting him.

The yew monster is not just a character but the embodiment of Connor’s subconscious, through the yew monster Ness explores the idea of the subconscious, and coping mechanisms. Conflict between characters is a major theme throughout a novel, A Monster Calls is no different, Patrick Ness uses this conflict between characters to show readers how people are different in

Selfishness, a quality that best shines in times of isolation, forces others to become aware of one's need for attention. Patrick Ness portrays this trait in A Monster Calls in a way that makes the readers realize that the burden of a secret is too great for anyone of any age to carry. Conor O'Malley is thirteen, but his experiences and hardships are ones that those who are beyond their years have not necessarily needed to overcome. Taking into account his mother's worsening condition, he does not want to let his surroundings affect him more than they already have. Under the influence of the Monster, Conor allows himself to act in accordance to his situation instead of keeping everything to himself without an outlet for his emotions. Conor’s selfishness, which is seen throughout the novel, affects his interactions with others in drawing out their flaws. To retaliate against his father, Lily and his grandma for putting him in situations that cause him suffering, Conor must act in this selfish manner regardless of the consequences.

Further into the novel, Patrick Ness uses the monster’s literal figure, a yew tree, to symbolize Conor’s healing process. The Yew tree is an ancient tree which originated from Europe. It grows in the depths of darkness and usually sets a eerie mood. The yew tree monster is said to be poisonous yet healing, it’s berries and leaves carry toxins as well. In A Monster Calls, the yew tree has come to heal Conor rather than his mother. Healing Conor requires guidance, patients, and risks - that is exactly what the monster provides for the teen.The morning after the monster visits Conor, there were leaves and berries scattered on his bedroom floor. Conor is quick to gather the bits and pieces and discard them into the bottom of the trashcan. This scene illustrates how Conor is willingly avoiding the poison and pain in his life. The act of pushing the objects onto the bottom of the bin in a discreet manner symbolizes Conor concealing the truth from his active conscious. Since the monster acknowledges that Connor is in great denial, even though Conor’s conscious holds the truth, the monster aids the teen through the sharing of stories to help him shift from denial to acceptance and understanding. The monster makes an agreement with Connor in which he tells him three tales and Conor must ultimately share his nightmare which is also his truth. The series of storytelling that the monster assembles together allows Conor to gain knowledge of the perceptions of good and bad. Conor is

The nightmare which has been referenced, and described as ‘the one with the darkness and the wind and the screaming, since the start of the novel has finally been revealed. When told he has to tell the fourth tale, his truth, he refused so instead the monster brought him into the nightmare. He described how he has had the nightmare forever, how it felt like ‘the nightmare had been there, stalking him, surrounding him, cutting him off, making him alone. The story is set on a cliff, and at the edge is his mother. Conor knows what is going to happen and shouts at his mother to escape.

They all had the same concept and storyline. These stories kept the book and the movie relatable, but making the intensity and relationship between Conor and the monster exceptionally high. If these tales did not happen in the movie, it would almost be a completely different movie from the book. The tales keep all the readers and viewers on the edge of their seats and wanting more. In both the book and movie, each tale the monster told it taught Conor a lesson. All the lessons had something to do with Conor’s life, even though he didn’t think so. After the Yew tree told his 3 tales it led to Conor having to tell his truth. This was one of, if not the most exciting parts of the book and movie. You could feel the pain Conor was going threw. There was such good detail at this moment, in the book and movie. You could connect to everything, feel his emotions, and even share the feelings he had. When his Mum was hanging from the cliff, it was one of the most emotionalists times in the book and the movie. You want to cry along with him because of how real the feelings were. Without these scenes A Monster Calls wouldn’t be A Monster

Monsters are often thought of as green, abnormally large and scary. They are believed to hide in dark shadows and forgotten street corners. Monsters have a bad reputation and the very nature of the term monster is not smiled upon. I believe these thoughts are generic and relics of a much safer past. In our morally bankrupt society monsters exist in the realist scariest form. As we step into adulthood and take our heads out of the comic books that shows us the danger of the Green Goblin we must now be alerted the real demons. Adolf Hitler killed thousands upon thousands of people. His persona and legacy can only be thought of as sick and sadistic. Adolf Hitler did by himself what would take an entire army of

Monsters run free in epic poems of centuries far past; horrific, villainous creatures of fantasy who illustrate all that is bad in the world and stand for the tribulations the epic hero much overcome. The Anglo-Saxon epic Beowulf is no different. Some are born of, and in turn give birth to legends, such as the fire-breathing dragon, while others are tied to the bible. In studies, Beowulf's monsters are explained and will continue to be analyzed as symbolic of countless different ideas. In relation to each other and the epic's hero, the monsters of Beowulf represent the ever-present flaws of humanity and the monstrous feelings or behaviors that over take the mind in a moment of weakness, leading to eventual downfall.

Young people facing adversity is a common theme authors explore, but the lessons we learn from fiction often help us in ways we might not expect. It is inevitable that we will face some sort of adversity during our lifetime but it is not how hard it makes our lives but how we choose to deal with it that make us who we are. In A Monster Calls, Conor finds that instead of ignoring the consequences of his mother’s terminal illness he simply needs to accept the adversity and find a way to deal with it. Similarly, when Wendy Harmer was a child she suffered desperately from the result of the bullies who often picked on her because of her facial deformity and her race. In both cases the sufferers found that the only way to deal with adversity was

As Keanu Reeves once said, “Grief changes shapes, but it never ends” (“Tragic”). When it comes to grief there are usually five shapes or stages that people go through: denial, anger, bargaining, depression and, finally, acceptance. The book A Monster Calls, by Patrick Ness, is about a young boy who is struggling with school, bullies, friends, and family when his mother develops a terminal illness. He is visited by the monster, a massive yew tree, who comes alive to teach Conor the ways of the world. He also teaches Conor the truth in order to move past his mother’s sickness. Ness shows how people in both literature and real life tend to go through five stages of grief while dealing with a loved one who has a terminal illness because of the overwhelming lamentation it inflicts.