Monkey Beach Sparknotes

In the Book “Monkey Beach”, the author Eden Robinson tells the enchanting spiritual journey of a girl named Lisa. The spiritual presence in Lisa's life helped her subconsciously and consciously change her overall mindset as a person. The author effectively engages the reader and takes them on a journey with Lisa by showing how the spirits helped Lisa understand how she was aware of her surroundings mentally; how the spirits helped Lisa change her perspective on how she views herself and finally how Lisa came to the realization of how the spiritual presence in her life affects her.

The spirits helped Lisa recognize her worth internally and while paying little attention to the little man’s visits, she was glad that in the case of her mother’s

As an example, at one point, Lisa said ‘I threw my pillow at him, “Get out! Get out, you goddamn little bastard”’ (Robinson 234). Lisa’s anger with the little man stemmed because he had previously lied about her little brother being in danger. However, after Jimmy became lost at sea, Lisa realized that the little man was simply trying to get Lisa to become more aware of her brother well being. Lisa turned to drugs and alcohol when she felt her life was becoming overwhelming, which in turn led her to make decisions that were unknown to her and were impacting her relationships with her family. In a moment of clarity while her cousin Tabitha visited to ask Lisa to get her life together, Lisa, believing that her cousin was a spirit came to understand the importance of family and how her decisions were impacting her family, in particular when she ran away. ‘I watched my mom's face. “Are you sure? I mean that I…”’ (Robinson 323), Lisa was very hesitant to request things from her mother, as she was becoming more aware of the damage that was present. Without Jimmy present, Lisa realized that conversations with her family were difficult. ‘Without him there, we couldn't seem to find anything to talk about’ (Robinson 323). The path that Lisa took to understand the messages that the spirits were passing along often time was cruel. Ignoring a message from the little man resulted in Lisa feeling tremendous guilt when here

Watching her wade waist deep into the water after a bucket and almost being pulled under, Jimmy on shore kept repeating “What are you doing”, to which Lisa finally after regaining control of her thoughts said, “I don't know,” I said, “I really don't know” (Robinson 357). It was only after Jimmy pulled her from the water and questioned her that Lisa realized the deep effect and control that the spirits were having on her life. During a rest stop on Lisa’s' journey to Vanover, Lisa subconsciously, not in cuts her wrist to make an offering to the thing in the trees. ‘I turn around in circles, offering this to the thing in the trees, waiting’ (Robinson 366). Gaining control, Lisa comes to understand how blindly she is following the spirits' messages and how it is affecting her mental well-being. By the end of the novel, Lisa is pulled into the spirit world and is completely mentally lost. When Lisa falls underneath the water, her Ma-ma-oo pulls her out and gets very stern with Lisa. “You have a dangerous gift,” she says. “It's like oxasuli. Unless you know how to use it will kill you.” (Robinson 371) but the water pulls Lisa back underneath the surface, however, this time her father brings her out onto shore. Finally releasing its hold on her, Lisa can reflect on what her Ma-ma-oo shared with her and concluded that the spirits can greatly affect both her mental health and her actions if she does not take