19 pages • 38 minutes read
Thomas LuxTo Help the Monkey Cross the River
Fiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 2004A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Themes
The Fallacy of Control
The speaker has a bird’s eye view of the river and the monkey swimming across it. They also hold a rifle, signifying the power of human technology, and believe they can control the fate of the monkey. In this, the speaker is akin to a superior being who watches the affairs of others and seeks to intervene as needed. The intentions and efficacy of this superior being shift throughout the poem. In the beginning, it seems they are intensely worried about the monkey’s fate—anticipating dangers the creature cannot. The speaker wants to rescue the monkey from predators by pulling the trigger of their rifle. This is analogous to a deus ex machina, or an act of god—a plot device where an unexpected power suddenly resolves a helpless situation.
It turns out that the speaker’s motive is not to kill the predator, which symbolizes life-threatening danger, but only to hurry the monkey along. Thus, the speaker wants to save the monkey by instilling fear in it. The monkey is too foolhardy in its innocence. This is an ironic twist on the idea of a benevolent god. If the speaker represents a superior being, their modus operandi is difficult to understand. In the end, the monkey’s fate is still undetermined, because even if it makes it safely across a river, it could end up in a cage and trained to smile for the benefit of others.
The final image of the caged monkey undercuts all efforts the speaker has made to preserve its life. This could be interpreted as an allegory for the belief that there is no superior being to save the monkey. The speaker’s desire to save the monkey using ridiculous mathematical calculations shows that the desire to control anything may be viewed as ridiculous. Humans cannot control the flow of existence or the laws of nature—despite their gifts for math, language, and technology. All they can do is empathize with the world around them.
Empathy For All
According to Professor Judith P. Saunders, Thomas Lux often uses poetry to explore the relationship between human and other animals. One of Lux’s trademark approaches is that his poems question the way humans perceive other life forms. Lux examines the “cognitive predispositions that encourage species bias and illusions of specialness.” In other words, Lux asks why humans should consider themselves superior to other beings, and what makes some animal species appear more special to humans than others. In “To Help the Monkey Cross the River,” Lux develops this theme through the speaker’s decision not to shoot the predators because “they’re just doing their jobs” (Line 23). The speaker does not believe the predators are evil. Often, in animal tales and other children’s stories of the Western canon, animals such as the wolf, crocodile, snake, or vulture are given villain-like characteristics. This is because of the human bias to view preying and scavenging behaviors as immoral, whereas predators are simply programmed to hunt for food, the way the monkey is programmed to look for “fruits and nuts” (Line 2). Predatory animals do not attack with malice or other human attributes, but in order to survive.
By having the speaker question the decision of shooting the predators, Lux asks the reader to consider why the monkey’s life is more superior to that of the crocodile or the anaconda. The last two images of the poem—the monkey’s childlike hands and a smart, caged monkey being taught to smile—further indict the skewed perceptions of empathy humans possess. While the speaker has the reader identify with the smallness and the humanness of the monkey—reinforcing why the monkey must be rescued—they also raise the question: Why do humans favor cute, helpless-looking animals with which they can identify? Is it because they can control these animals, such as trapping and training monkeys? By raising these provocative questions, the poet encourages the reader to reconsider their own inherent biases regarding other animals.
Nonviolent Means of Helping Others
Although Lux’s poems can depict macabre ways humans harm each other, he always argues against violence and lack of empathy. In “To Help the Monkey Cross the River,” the poem’s first big twist involves an act of abstaining from violence. The speaker’s plan to help the monkey involves firing only warning shots to speed it along. The idea that the monkey can easily be helped by the warning shots shows that humans can help others without resorting to murder or maim. Tense situations can be resolved without escalation of hostility.
Further, the poem argues for the use of weapons as deterrents. Even though the speaker is holding a rifle and sitting on a platform on a tree—a location usually associated with hunters—the poem upends the expectation that the speaker will ultimately shoot at something. The fact that the speaker’s act of nonviolence catches the reader by surprise shows how the ideas of rescue and violence have ironically become enmeshed. Even the presence of a rifle raises an expectation of violence. But the poem forces the reader to question their presumptions. A weapon can be used to warn, to alert, and create deterrence. A rescue can be attempted without bombing a city.
