27 pages • 54 minutes read
Stephen KingThe Monkey
Fiction | Short Story | Adult | Published in 1980A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Character Analysis
Hal Shelburn
Content Warning: This section contains references to child abuse.
Hal is the protagonist of “The Monkey,” which covers events that span his early childhood to adulthood. He is the story’s viewpoint character, but his perspective is unreliable; most of Hal’s experiences with the monkey date to his childhood, and there is little tangible evidence linking the monkey to the deaths that Hal associates it with, suggesting that it may simply have been a way for Hal to conceptualize the tragedies of his early life. Even in the present, it is possible that Hal is merely projecting his own angry and violent impulses onto the toy, though Petey’s similar reaction to the monkey lends credence to the idea that it is a genuinely malevolent force. At the very least, Hal is less than fully self-aware; he is repeatedly surprised by his own angry outbursts, some of which are implied to predate the monkey’s reappearance in his life and therefore do not stem directly from its influence. Through this depiction of Hal, the story explores how trauma can breed further trauma by causing people to behave violently and cruelly.
By contrast, the young Hal is initially characterized by his uncomplicated joy and curiosity. The character arc that unfolds in the story’s flashbacks charts The Loss of Childhood Innocence as he gains a sobering comprehension of the monkey’s power and malevolence and confronts the reality of mortality. The death of his mother, a tragic event that solidifies the toy’s malicious hold over Hal, represents the culmination of this arc. As an adult, his relationships with his family members vary from loving (with his youngest son, Petey) to turbulent (with his adolescent son, Dennis) to distant (with his wife, Terry); his struggles to maintain stable bonds are implied to be rooted in the instability of his childhood home life. Nevertheless, in throwing away the monkey, Hal overcomes his fear for his own life to protect his family, reaffirming The Importance of Family Relationships and redeeming Hal himself.
Petey Shelburn
Petey, Hal’s son, plays a pivotal role in the story, providing insight into the themes of lost innocence and The Nature of Evil. Initially, Petey is full of curiosity and innocence. The mysterious quality of the monkey draws him to it, and he becomes fascinated. However, Petey soon senses the toy’s dark nature and shares his feelings with his father, which accelerates the action later in the story by fueling Hal’s desire to break the cycle of violence that the toy perpetuates and/or represents.
Notably, Petey strongly reminds Hal of himself: “[H]e had always been able to feel so good about Petey, to feel he understood Petey and could help him” (183). Although Petey does not seem to have much in common with the adult Hal, who is jaded and temperamental, he does resemble Hal as a child. This suggests that in trying to save Petey from the monkey, Hal is also trying to save himself. In addition, Petey’s innocence serves as a reminder that all people have the potential for evil; if a child as sweet-tempered as Petey feels drawn to the monkey, no one would seem to be immune.
Terry Shelburn
Hal’s wife, Terry, plays a pivotal but understated role in the narrative, shedding light on the complexities of the central family’s dynamics. Terry is initially detached from the story’s events—she pays no attention to the monkey when her sons come across it in the attic (despite Hal’s visceral reaction) and sees no issue with the boys keeping it. Hal’s apprehension contrasts with Terry’s dismissive attitude, setting up a conflict within the family.
As the story progresses, Terry becomes increasingly aware of how Hal is acting, admonishing him for his violence with Dennis, but ultimately she does little to intervene. Her inaction is in keeping with expository details that suggest a family in crisis, its members increasingly distant from one another. Hal and Terry’s conversations are often strained and lacking in any real communication, and it emerges that Terry has been taking Valium since Hal was laid off two years ago. The family’s struggle contributes to Hal’s spiral, just as the presence of the monkey amplifies those preexisting conflicts.
Related Titles
By Stephen King
