A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness Book Analysis

At the end of the day, you must live with what you have done and face the truth of what you have thought. In The Monster Calls, a novel written by Patrick Ness, the overarching effects of pain on 13-year-old Conor are explored. After his mom’s diagnosis, presumably one of cancer, Conor begins to experience nightmares, isolation, and fear. These emotions and experiences conjure a new nightmare, one in which a monster visits at night. Through a series of three stories, Conor begins to have a better comprehension of how why people in his life are acting the way that they are, but the fourth story, one told by Conor, evokes the biggest lesson that was essential to learn. While Conor struggles with his emotions concerning his thoughts, the monster appears to Conor in order to show him that people are not good or bad; it is possible to be both.

The first instance in which the monster illustrates the idea that a person cannot always be labeled as good or bad comes during the first tale. The first tale is one of murder, betrayal, and blaming. When the prince’s wife is murdered, he blames the queen, but she was not the one who killed her. Instead, it was the prince. While the queen did not murder the wife, she was still not a great ruler (Ness 63). In the monster’s words, “There is not always a good guy. Nor is there always a bad one. Most people are somewhere in between” (Ness 64). Conor believed that the queen and prince were both the villain in the story and that there was not a good guy or savior. The point the monster was making with this tale was that there is not always going to be a complete villain and hero, but sometimes it will just have people with conflicting emotions working through hard situations. 

The second tale demonstrates a conflict of good and bad as well. At first, a parson believed that the Apothecary was crazy, and his treatments were nonsense, but as soon as his own daughters fell ill, he threw his beliefs out the window (Ness 108). When the parson asked the Apothecary for help, the Apothecary refused, and the parson lost his daughters. In this situation, Conor saw the Apothecary as the bad guy because he refused to help which resulted in death. In response to this belief, the monster tells Conor that “this was the story of a man punished for his selfishness” (Ness 109). This statement caused Conor to look at the situation from a different perspective. The parson was no longer a completely good man, and the Apothecary was no longer completely selfish and evil. The parson became a man that was rude to others with opposing views but was willing to compromise his beliefs if it would benefit him while the Apothecary was a man who stood his ground instead of letting others say whatever they wanted to about him, and then let them take advantage of him. In this tale, it turned out that selfishness can hide behind the good, even though the bad side is still there.

There is a third tale, one about an invisible man that feels unseen, that exemplifies an inner battle between good and bad as well, but the most important instance of the monster teaching Conor this lesson comes when Conor admits the thoughts he had concerning his mom’s impending death. These thoughts were ones of wishing the pain would end, which meant in a way wishing his mom would die instead of living the way she was. Having these thoughts made Conor feel extremely guilty and as though his mom’s condition was his fault (Ness 188). By talking through Conor’s thoughts, the monster helped him understand that thoughts and actions were completely different things. According to the monster, “What you think is not important. It is only important what you do” (Ness 192). Conor did not act on the thoughts he was having, which showed that he is a good person. While wishing the pain would end, which meant his mom would die, made Conor feel like he was a horrible person and son, understanding why he wanted that helped him see the fact that sometimes good intentions are masked by an issue in how those intentions are expressed.

The conclusion of the novel A Monster Calls impelled Conor to confront his long-held secret that generated excruciating guilt within him. By telling his truth, one of wishing his own pain would end, Conor learned the ultimate lesson, action and thoughts are two separate things. The difference in the two, and whether or not a thought becomes an action is the distinction between good and bad in people. This new understanding allows Conor to forgive himself for his thoughts and release the guilt he had hanging over him for so long. While the monster could not save his mother, it could help Conor save himself and provide the tools he needed to process the thought of a life after his mom’s death.