In the book, Conor, the protagonist’s mother has cancer. His mother suffers throughout the book, from her illness, and the chemotherapy stops working on her. His mother tried to protect Conor by stating that she will get better when she clearly was losing faith in herself slowly. The monster from the book comes to help Conor find his peace, with all the chaos going on. Conor knew deep down inside that his mother was going to go eventually. In his ‘Nightmare’ The one we don't get to know about until the end, he lets go of his mother. He regrets everything, but he wanted her to go because he couldn't see her suffer, and his mother’s illness isolated him from everyone else and got him bullied. In “Demons” the line, “I wanna hide the truth, I wanna shelter you” resembles the situation Conor was in, where he wanted to hide his true feelings as he thought they would hurt his mother more. The song explains how he wants to protect the feelings of his loved ones.
Everyone has their own pain and suffering that they keep to themselves, and in the song, there is one like that goes, “It’s dark inside, It’s where my demons hide”, The demon could symbolise the pain that we hide inside, which later turn into your worst fears. In “A Monster Calls”, The Monster in his nightmare, the one which swallows Conor’s mother, is the thing Conor is most afraid of. The monster could be a symbol of what was happening to him in his life. His mother was being pulled into the darkness by a monster - Cancer, and his mother is hanging on to Conor, when he lets go - Wanting her to go, so he won't have to see her suffer anymore.
Conor in the book faces issues such as being a victim of bullying at school. He was bullied because of his mother’s condition and used the thing that hurt him most, against him. This lead to him pushing people away, just to avoid getting hurt. His former friend Lily, who told the whole school about his mother, actually wanted to get close to Conor again, to help him get through this hard phase in life and be by his side when times get hard. But unfortunately, Conor hadn’t forgiven her. And so he kept pushing her away. He blamed Lily for everything and said, “It’s your fault, It's all your fault”(25). Conor couldn’t think straight because of all the problems going on in his life.
The Yew Monster from the book was a very big part of the plot. The Monster appeared at exactly 12:07, to meet Conor and tell him tales. He says in the beginning that he will come and tell him 3 tales, and Conor will have to tell him the fourth one. And the fourth one is the ‘Truth’. The truth turns out to be the one thing Conor is most afraid of. And the monster tries to help Conor tell the truth. Conor couldn’t let go unless he was true to himself. The pain inside had to be set free in order for him to move on and get the weight off his shoulders. The line “So they dug your grave and the masquerade, will come calling out at the mess you’ve made”, could mean how the monster reminded him of his sins, that had to be set free, for Conor’s benefit. The mess you've made could also imply on all the trouble he caused to other people. He completely destroyed his grandmother’s antique living room, he destroyed his friendship with Lily, even when he had the chance to fix everything. He made himself ‘Visible’ and made everyone see what he really was on the inside.
In the song, there is one part where the person says, “I need to let you go”. This relates to Conor, and how he had to let go in order for him to have a chance to be happy again.
In both “Demons” and “A Monster Calls” the author/writers show how when we love someone, we need to learn to let go, so we can learn to move on with our life. Personally, a death in my family took a huge toll, but eventually, I learnt to let go. It may hurt a lot, but the important thing is to move forward and not dwell too much on the past. These texts leave us thinking if we are better off grieving for pain than hiding the pain inside.
Sources:
""Demons" Lyrics." IMAGINE DRAGONS LYRICS. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Mar. 2016.
Everyone has their own pain and suffering that they keep to themselves, and in the song, there is one like that goes, “It’s dark inside, It’s where my demons hide”, The demon could symbolise the pain that we hide inside, which later turn into your worst fears. In “A Monster Calls”, The Monster in his nightmare, the one which swallows Conor’s mother, is the thing Conor is most afraid of. The monster could be a symbol of what was happening to him in his life. His mother was being pulled into the darkness by a monster - Cancer, and his mother is hanging on to Conor, when he lets go - Wanting her to go, so he won't have to see her suffer anymore.
Conor in the book faces issues such as being a victim of bullying at school. He was bullied because of his mother’s condition and used the thing that hurt him most, against him. This lead to him pushing people away, just to avoid getting hurt. His former friend Lily, who told the whole school about his mother, actually wanted to get close to Conor again, to help him get through this hard phase in life and be by his side when times get hard. But unfortunately, Conor hadn’t forgiven her. And so he kept pushing her away. He blamed Lily for everything and said, “It’s your fault, It's all your fault”(25). Conor couldn’t think straight because of all the problems going on in his life.
The Yew Monster from the book was a very big part of the plot. The Monster appeared at exactly 12:07, to meet Conor and tell him tales. He says in the beginning that he will come and tell him 3 tales, and Conor will have to tell him the fourth one. And the fourth one is the ‘Truth’. The truth turns out to be the one thing Conor is most afraid of. And the monster tries to help Conor tell the truth. Conor couldn’t let go unless he was true to himself. The pain inside had to be set free in order for him to move on and get the weight off his shoulders. The line “So they dug your grave and the masquerade, will come calling out at the mess you’ve made”, could mean how the monster reminded him of his sins, that had to be set free, for Conor’s benefit. The mess you've made could also imply on all the trouble he caused to other people. He completely destroyed his grandmother’s antique living room, he destroyed his friendship with Lily, even when he had the chance to fix everything. He made himself ‘Visible’ and made everyone see what he really was on the inside.
In the song, there is one part where the person says, “I need to let you go”. This relates to Conor, and how he had to let go in order for him to have a chance to be happy again.
In both “Demons” and “A Monster Calls” the author/writers show how when we love someone, we need to learn to let go, so we can learn to move on with our life. Personally, a death in my family took a huge toll, but eventually, I learnt to let go. It may hurt a lot, but the important thing is to move forward and not dwell too much on the past. These texts leave us thinking if we are better off grieving for pain than hiding the pain inside.
Sources:
""Demons" Lyrics." IMAGINE DRAGONS LYRICS. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Mar. 2016.
I love this essay of yours! I love how every paragraph really speaks to people and gives the song a deeper meaning than what I might have originally thought it was, same with the book too! I think the way you elaborated and talked about the different key aspects of the story that relate to Conor's suffering was really great too. One of the lines that really spoke to me was, "“A Monster Calls” and “Demons” both demonstrate how eventually we all have to let go of our loved ones, no matter how much it hurts." and I think that it's actually a really beautiful thing to say. You did an amazing job Nyans~! <3
ReplyDeleteThis was a really great essay, which talked about a really significant issue our world today. I was really new to the idea that we might be better off grieving our pain rather than hiding it all inside, and it gave me something to think about. I really like how you analysed the book, and you compared the monster to cancer. This gave your whole idea a much deeper meaning. You were also to pick relevant evidence and you explained it really well. Good job!
ReplyDeleteI really liked how you used emotion to stir the reader from the very first line of your piece. I loved the way you contrasted both of the pieces. The meaning you found within the two pieces are already so deep and you really managed to bring that out as well as find you own message. This is a really good essay!!
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