The narrative interludes enrich Eden Robinson’s Monkey Beach and reveal Lisa’s development as a spiritual, natural, and human being. Allegorically, the interludes explore the dynamics of her relationships and express what Lisa is unable to put into words. The part of the book titled “The Song of Your Breath” contains four “heart” interludes; this article focuses on the first of these interludes which describes the human heart and its place within the body. As the interludes suspend the underlying storyline of Monkey Beach, Lisa’s pursuit of her brother Jimmy who has recently been lost at sea, Robinson’s imaginative poetics take hold of the reader. The reader is invited to slow down, to ponder and be grounded, to experience the book rather than be entertained by it. Lisa has suffered loss and hardship, and she internalizes her emotions which spirals her life into unsafe partying and substance abuse. After her cousin dies, she returns home from the dark hole that is Vancouver and strengthens her relationship with her brother. Lisa’s relationship with Jimmy shows how far she’s come in her emotional development and healing. The narrative interlude fosters an allegory for emotional vulnerability which demonstrates Lisa’s eventual realization, even if never verbally expressed, of its belonging in order to heal.
THE HEART AND BRAIN SYMBOLS
Within the selected narrative interlude, the heart is a symbol for the emotional self. Upon close reading, the clichéd heart-symbol develops into a more impressive allegory. Since, in the womb, the heart beats before the nervous system is completely created (Robinson 164), the heart is separate from and not entirely controlled by the brain, which symbolizes thought. This separation distinguishes emotion and thought as individual entities. Lisa orders the reader to “make [their] hand into a fist” (163) which represents this uncontrolled, thoughtless energy that the heart symbolizes. The human fist—a fist for punching walls, for built up tension, for bar fights—simulates the size of the human heart. The heart is a “strong pulsating organ” (164) that contains “good” and “bad” emotions. However, the brain supplies an extra electrical pulse to keep the heart beating. The brain can maintain these extra pulses because the heart supplies blood to the brain. These two entities are separate but one could never function for long without the other; thought and emotions could never function long without the other.
THE HEART AND LUNG SYMBOLS
The heart’s place within the body symbolizes vulnerability. Just as the brain supports the heart, so does every other organ and tissue around it. The heart is “shrouded . . . by a sac of tissue, . . . which acts like bubble wrap by both protecting . . . and holding it in place” (163). Despite the heart being strong, it still needs support in order to function effectively. This allegory deepens and continues to unravel. The heart leans on the left lung, which is smaller that the right, (163). Just like the brain, the lungs depend on the heart to function properly. So, in this case, the lung provides the heart a safe and supportive space so that it doesn’t need to work as hard. The heart doesn’t need to armour itself and can focus on its main function. With the allegory in mind, the emotional self requires protection, acceptance, and a space for vulnerability to operate healthily.
LISA'S ESCAPISM
Lisa doesn’t always receive this support through her parents, and the people in her life who did, like Ma-ma-oo and Mick, unfortunately pass away. Due to her lack of emotional vulnerability, she does not cope with these losses very well. Throughout her traumatic flashbacks of their deaths, she ignores her emotions and neglects to look inward. At Mick’s funeral she only describes the literal and external events that occur: the closed casket, Mick’s black and white photo, the incoherent singing, the dirt on the coffin, her aunt crying, her mom’s sweaty palm (141). She barely has a conscious thought until she distances her mind from the present by “[concentrating] on the trees” (141). Through escape, she can find a simulation of safety and clarity. This happens when ma-ma-oo dies as well. Her bender in Vancouver is a more drastic and evidently unhealthy form of escape that accentuates the dangers of escapism. But the Lisa narrating—the version of herself who is searching for her brother—is exploring her own emotional vulnerability. She conveys the beginning of her emotional growth. Slowly, she learns to be vulnerable with herself and accepts that a heart (emotions) needs a safe-space (cardiac impression of the lungs) and need to be meditated (the brain).
LISA'S SUPPORT
Lisa confirms this growth by creating a healthy relationship with her brother. Since she is sober, less angry, and more receptive than before she left Kitimaat, their sibling dynamic is restored and Lisa even endeavours to graduate high school. They help each other so that they can both thrive. At first, Jimmy is the supportive role in their relationship when she returns from Vancouver. She lets him in: Jimmy is excited that she might get to graduate with him (Monkey Beach 325), and he tutors her in algebra. Then, when Jimmy’s situation takes a turn for the worse and his girlfriend, Karaoke, leaves Kitimaat without telling him, Lisa assumes the supportive role. She is incessantly there for him. He lashes out in anger, but Lisa forces her presence, and in an antagonizing yet loving—sisterly—way she pokes at him. She has learned the hard way that difficult emotions shouldn’t be left alone as her mother implies that they should (Monkey Beach 337). Jimmy continues to spiral and passes out drunk. Consequently, Lisa takes drastic yet humorous measures and brings him to Monkey Beach, a childhood location, to sober up and talk. Even if she has doubts in her abilities, she tries her best to show that she cares about him. In guiding her brother to face his emotions, she begins to heal her own wounds and prevents new ones in Jimmy.
LAST THOUGHTS
At less than a page long, the first “heart” interlude reveals a layered allegory which establishes the beginning of Lisa’s emotional development and her acceptance of vulnerability. The interlude is a simple yet profound elucidation of the location and situation of the human heart that articulate the cyclicity of a physical human, as well as the spirituality and connectedness of the mental human. The interludes pause the main plot so that the reader understand the story more significantly. Although Robinson’s story telling skill maintain the reader’s interest, this novel is not for pure entertainment. Lisa’s reconnection (to her land, herself, and her loved ones) offers lessons in meditation, community, and acceptance.
Comments