THE MONSTER

The monster character in the book is supposed to be terrifying for Conor but isn’t because Conor is dealing with another fear much scarier than a monster. The monster is there to symbolize wisdom and truth in the real world. He tells Conor three stories that make no sense to Conor because they are crappy stories to him that do not have a happy ending and make it seem like good people don’t get what they want in life. “Who is the monster? He is a form of a Yew tree or a Green Man or Herne the Hunter.” I love that they use a tree because a tree represents vitality, fertility and wisdom. Tree are connected to everything like earth, heaven and the underworld. They are still here when we are all gone. The monster is not just any tree he is a Yew Tree. This type of tree that bears poison and grows around the midst of death. They are very poisonous but there poison is also what can cure a disease. The monster symbolizes everything he is bad but can really be good. One question I had to ask myself at the end was the monster real or was it all in Conor imagination? Nobody else sees the monster besides him and he was the one who saw all the leaves in his room and can see him during school. But yet the monster told Conor stories that he would not expect the endings to them he found them surprising.