85 pages • 2 hours read
Summer of the Monkeys
A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Themes
Perseverance in the Face of Frustration and Failure
A theme of perseverance becomes evident over the course of Jay Berry’s attempts to catch the monkeys. He is abundantly confident that he can catch them readily, as he has Grandpa’s good steel traps, his own skill and ingenuity, and the motivation for challenging work thanks to the reward money. Moreover, both his grandfather and his father indicate strong belief in the possibility of Jay Berry’s quick success; Grandpa says, “Just set your traps in the dirt, and hang an apple above each one. I think that’ll do the job” (26), and Papa tells him, “You go right ahead and have a go at those monkeys. Maybe you can catch them; you’ve caught everything else in these hills” (31). Additionally, Jay Berry has “never intended to be anything but a hunter or an explorer”; the path to trapping the creatures and earning the reward money feels clear (21). The contrast between his assumed success and the rapidity with which Jimbo outsmarts him adds humor. Not only does Jimbo evade the traps and keep his smaller cohorts safe, but he also steals the traps right out from under Jay Berry, and Jay Berry will not see those traps again for weeks.
Jay Berry, however, thinks of the pony and rifle he wants so desperately, then tries again with Grandpa’s butterfly net. The battle is on now, as Jimbo and Jay Berry have a literal standoff over two caught monkeys. Jay Berry learns that Jimbo is not only a clever foe who might be able to outthink him, but also that the chimpanzee is an effective leader who effortlessly brings the littler monkeys to attack him and Rowdy. Boy and dog both rush home with proverbial tails between legs, but within days, Jay Berry is ready to return to the fight. Grandpa helps again to bolster Jay Berry’s perseverance, this time with information from Jimbo’s trainer. The attempt to make friends with Jimbo quickly turns disastrous, as Jay Berry and Rowdy become drunk on the sour mash Jimbo insists they drink.
Not to be outdone, Jay Berry takes a symbolic trip many miles from his ordinary world in an attempt to catch the monkeys. Grandpa is a worthy ally and mentor by this point, just as eager to build a trap and catch the critters as Jay Berry is. Jay Berry shows more resilience when he searches for the monkeys after the storm; though he cannot find them initially, he looks well beyond their usual territory, eventually hearing Jimbo. Jay Berry’s perseverance and compassion for the monkeys is rewarded when the monkeys follow him home.
Befriending One’s Foes
The relationship between Jay Berry and Jimbo best demonstrates the theme of making friends with the enemy. Trickster Jimbo proves himself a worthy adversary to Jay Berry through his quick and effortless wins over Jay Berry’s steel traps and butterfly net. He uses a friendship-style ruse to foil Jay Berry’s first try at befriending him, offering the boy sour mash to incapacitate him. He even steals the coconuts acquired by Grandpa, managing to preempt the latest and best plan to construct a monkey-catching trap with coconuts as bait. When the storm threatens the lives of the monkeys, though, leaving them chilled, wet, and sickly, Jimbo realizes that trust in Jay Berry’s friendship is the ticket to his and his fellow monkeys’ survival, and they exit the river bottoms hand in hand.
With persuasion from Jay Berry, Rowdy eventually becomes a friend to the monkeys as well. Originally curious and eager, Rowdy shies away and wants nothing to do with them after they attack and nip him. Once the storm vanquishes the monkeys’ fighting spirit, however, he wants to befriend and care for them: “Rowdy came over and started licking the little monkey with his warm tongue. The little monkey seemed to like it. He closed his eyes and let Rowdy wash away” (214).
Jay Berry has another consistent foe throughout the novel: Daisy. Though Daisy is his twin and only companion close in age, and though they occasionally share camaraderie such as during the storm, she more often presents as foe-like with her constant teasing, nagging, and nursing. On several occasions, Jay Berry is eager to get away from her, such as when she insists that his lack of thirst (after multiple glasses of water) means rabies. Once he realizes he can help her, though, Jay Berry doesn’t hesitate to use his reward money for Daisy’s benefit. Daisy undergoes a coming of age in terms of maturity and gratitude thanks to her leg surgery; she arrives home able to walk without her crutch and eager to thank Jay Berry for what he did. Her sincere appreciation is clear when she kisses him, and their friendship as siblings is clear when she takes his hand to run together, a feat she dreamed about for years.
The Angst of Coming of Age
Jay Berry opens his narrative by characterizing his childhood in the Ozarks as joy-filled. He is content with the few material possessions of his home and farm, proud of his hardworking parents, and fulfilled by his close relationships with Grandpa and Rowdy. His sister’s “twisted leg” is an unfortunate part of her life, and Jay Berry might feel a bit of guilt as he tears around the mountain and darts off to Grandpa’s store when she cannot. However, Daisy’s leg does not cause him undue upset, as he believes that she “could zip around” on her crutch “just about as well as [he can] on two straight legs” (6). Later, when Grandma tries to discuss Daisy’s pain and decreasing mobility, he knows that his parents and grandparents are worried and that they’re trying to provide for Daisy in a way he does not have to be concerned with: “If they were all saving up their money, then sooner or later Daisy’s leg would be all fixed up. In fact, I couldn’t see where anyone had anything to worry about but me” (79).
Jay Berry’s “worry” refers to how he will catch the monkeys. He does not demonstrate the care, generosity, and altruism of a more mature member of the family. When it finally hits him that he is the only one who can help Daisy now, he feels angst and anguish as well as newfound generosity. Jay Berry knows he can and will be the one to pay for Daisy’s surgery, as he would never be able to look at his pony or rifle without thinking how he could have saved her leg; his emotions are raw, however, because the pony he chooses is sweet, perfect, lovable, and all his, after having waited what feels like his whole life. Stepping away from that pony for the sake of his sister is a marked moment of coming of age for Jay Berry, and it shows the angst that often accompanies a young person’s foray into more mature decision-making: “If teardrops could have made a fence post sprout roots and grow, that post would have grown twenty feet tall” (249). Here, Jay Berry lets out some of that anguish over saying goodbye to his pony before confiding his intentions to his grandparents.
Part of Jay Berry’s struggle with his feelings about giving up his pony stem from his desire to keep them to himself. He does this to ease Daisy’s feelings in the matter, as she might feel guilt or responsibility for his loss. Papa, however, knows the pain of Jay Berry’s decision; he had witnessed Jay Berry arriving joyfully home with the paint mare: “I didn’t want them to know that you had almost gotten home with your pony. You grew ten feet tall today […] I’d like to shake your hand” (252). Here, Papa indicates how the pain of growing up and becoming a kind and giving individual go together.
Unlock all 85 pages of this Study GuidePlus, gain access to 9,150+ more expert-written Study Guides.
Including features:
