Patrick shows the audience how hard it is to cope with terminal illness in your life by comparing what Conor went through to a never – ending nightmare. When it is time to tell the fourth tale, which is Conor’s nightmare, Conor finds himself ‘bordered on three sides by a dark and impenetrable forest, recognised by a fourth side, a cliff, flying off into even further blackness. And on the cliff’s edge, his mum.’ This description of the nightmare shows the audience how traumatic and scary having a loved one going through a terminal illness can be. Having his mum standing at the edge of the cliff can help the reader gauge how it feels for Conor, knowing his mum is going to fall no matter what he does. At the end of the nightmare, Conor has to …show more content…
The themes of guilt and anger are explored throughout the book to show how Conor is struggling with his mother’s terminal illness. Conor has this nightmare that was described in the book as ‘the fourth tale’. It was a nightmare that portrayed his mother’s death. Conor would never let himself see through to the end of his nightmare because he couldn’t accept his mum’s death, which he knew was eventually going to happen. The last time Conor experiences this nightmare, he finally reaches the end, where his Mum slips away from his own hands, this is Ness’s way of showing the audience that Conor finally accepted his mum’s death. The monster forced Conor to finish the nightmare and let go of his mum because the monster knew he would otherwise be filled with guilt and anger forever. ‘I let her go,” Conor choked. “I could have held on but I let her go.’ “And that the monster said, is the truth.” ‘I didn’t mean it though!” Conor said, his voice rising “I didn’t mean to let her