The first thought that comes to mind when reading “To Help the Monkey Cross the River” is a scene out of “Man vs Wild” with Bear Gryllis. In place of Bear is our narrator, who is kind of a bad ass, living in nature and watching over the creatures of the jungle. Although the speaker in “To Help the Monkey Cross the River” seems maybe rough around the edges and willing to kill the predators in order for the monkey to succeed in crossing the river, we find out that he is actually a compassionate person that really appreciates nature around him, but we also see that he understands survival of the fittest in the jungle. Our narrator is a man of nature and closely resembles the outdoorsy characteristics of Bear Gryllis.
The first clue towards this idea is when our speaker checks the water to determine if there are any threats to the monkey. “I look first upriver: predators move faster with the current than against it” (Lux, line8, 9). This leads one to believe that our speaker has experience in dealing with predators. Our speaker knows how they move and where they are coming from. One starts to believe that for whatever reason our speaker is the protector of this monkey and will take aim and shoot at an oncoming predator. I myself have been in similar situations, coaching high school soccer in which a smaller weaker student is being picked on by a much stronger student, and I have either stepped in to stop it or I’ve even seen one of his larger teammates stick up for him and scare away the “bully”.
It is at this point in the reading that one thinks they have our speaker pinned down; they know exactly what he is going to do next. “If a crocodile is aimed from upriver to eat the monkey and an anaconda from downriver burns with the same ambition, I do the math, algebra, angles, rate-of-monkey, croc-and snake-speed, and if, if it looks as though the anaconda or the croc will reach the monkey before he attains the river’s far bank, I raise my rifle and fire” (Lux, line 10, 18). This is when I was rooting for the monkey to make it and rooting for our speaker to take down the anaconda or croc to help him. Our speaker was doing an admirable thing; he is helping the underdog little monkey to succeed in crossing the river and reaching his goal of food.
As a sports fan it is always fun to see the “big upset” and I think what makes that fun is our compassion as people to understand the odds that are stacked against the underdog, and they things they must persevere through to accomplish that goal. Which is exactly what one thinks is happening in this poem, that our speaker is a fan of the underdog and wants to see him win against the tougher opponents, the anaconda and the croc. In a lot of ways our speaker seems a lot like the everyday person in this aspect, as we always seem to root for the underdog to fight the good fight and hopefully come out on top. In this case it seems as if our speaker is taking matters into his own hands to make sure this “big upset” happens.
“One, two, three, even four times into the river…”(Lux line 19). At this point one is nearly certain that the narrator is shooting at the predators to ensure the safety of the monkey. After reading the next line one finally realizes what our narrator has in mind when taking aim: “…just behind the monkey to hurry him up a little” (Lux lines 20, 21). This whole poem has led up to this point, the climax, when shot are fired. Our narrator chooses not to harm the predators but instead helps the monkey in a different way. He wants the underdog to win but will not cheat the croc and anaconda out of the competition. I believe this shows how much he appreciates nature and survival of the fittest. He is allowing the croc and anaconda to continue to come at the monkey while encouraging the monkey to swim a little faster. He appreciates nature for all it’s worth but refuses to see the monkey half heartedly swim across the river, so he pushes him to the limit to ensure he gives the predators his all. In conclusion I believe our narrator is a much more complex person than he originally seems. He is a nature lover, believer of survival of the fittest, and loves to see the underdog give it his all and win. He is the average American man.
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