TIPAN, CHRISTINE JADE D.

DEAR HOUR
10 – PASCAL
The Boy’s Answer
A reflection on the award-winning novel, “A Monster Calls”

“Not all monsters who call after the dark are scary. Some may call
to tell tales of truths and life stories.”

A Monster Calls, a fantasy novel written by Patrick Ness, is an

extraordinary novel of love and pain, delving into the depths of truths
humans often bury to live with comfort and cope with pain. Inspired by
and dedicated to the final story idea of writer Siobhan Dowd, it was then
captured in film by Focus Features. The story follows a boy named
Conor O'Malley as he faces his mother’s terminal illness and bullying
from his schoolmate, Harry. He is visited at exactly 12:07 by a yew tree,
depicting a monster, to tell him three stories that led to the unveiling of
the greatest truth he has spoken.

The first tale tells of a prince fleeing from an evil queen, who lurked
beneath her youthful appearance, with the daughter of a farmer whom
he fell in love with. Subsequently, it came to light that the prince had
murdered the farmer's daughter and had placed the blame on the queen,
claiming to have done so for the good of the kingdom after discovering
the queen was, in fact, a witch.

The first truth is that not every story has a villain and a hero,
as humans lie to cope with their needs and desires. Human nature
can be incredibly self-serving. We create aspirations and objectives we
pursue without failure, despite walking the paths of fabrication and
inflicting pain upon others. We value outcomes over processes in the
name of a “greater good,” then hide from guilt using lies that help us
sleep at night. When we then look at the picture made, complications
arise from wondering whether or not our actions were morally right and if
we were the villains or the heroes at the end of the story.

The second tale tells of an apothecary who utilizes a yew tree for
medicine but is prohibited by a parson as the tree grows on his property.
As the parson’s two daughters grew ill, he was desperate enough to give
up on everything he believed in and ask the apothecary for the yew
medicine. However, the chemist refuses, and the parson’s daughters die
the same night.

The second truth we learn is that there is never one single

law, belief, or ideology that serves all of humankind. Beliefs are half
of the result we envision. Individuals have their own belief systems,
which are the roots of their characterizations. Each mindset attached to
us can be comprised of positive or negative beliefs, which can either
serve us or hinder us. These beliefs nail our actions into precise ones,
making sure we’re never out of line or that we’re continuing to self-
sabotage.

The third and final tale tells the story of an invisible man. It was not
actually that he was invisible, but the people around him had become
used to not seeing him. He then decides to make them see him.

The final truth implied is that not everything that is invisible is

real. This revolves around how humans have secrets or hide their
feelings in order to fix the surface of a situation. In reality, when we dig
deeper under a seemingly smooth and unscathed appearance, we find
wounds and traumas that have been lingering and hurting for the longest
time. We give temporary solutions by hiding and concealing our pain
until the darkest hours of our lives.
 “Humans are complicated beasts,” said the Monster, and there is
no lie to that. Every individual is built differently, and our actions will
never be fully understood or imitated perfectly. However, the greatest
truth ever told in the story is this:

Pain calls to be answered. Pain hurts to be healed.

If there is something that all humans have in common it is that we

were never born to pursue happiness. We were born with a mind that
craves comfort. No matter how worthy a risk is, no matter how beneficial
something is, humans would never exchange uncertainty for comfort,
even at the cost of their happiness. Therefore, addressing the pain we
feel, as uncomfortable as it may be, seems impossible, dreadful, and
something we all avoid. “You were merely wishing for the end of pain.
Your own pain. An end to how it isolated you. It is the most human wish
of all.” Though, contrary to how we avoid it, it is our greatest desire to
heal it too.

“Connor held on tightly to his mother, and by doing so, he finally let
her go.” The novel is a tale of holding onto pain tightly until we can let it
go. It is a story of fortitude in facing the fearful and uncertain moments in
our lives. This story delves into human nature and helps us understand
our emotions and ourselves as a whole, making it a worthwhile read. We
can never heal a wound we cannot find; we cannot hold magnificence in
our hands without looking at it eye to eye. We must address the pain we
feel, speak to it gently, and greet it as an old friend until its departure, for
monsters that growl are monsters that are alive. Monsters that call
are monsters that have been asking for answers so they can finally
bid goodbye.