Monkey Beach

Read the following passage from pages 295-296 (beginning of Part III). Discuss the fusion of story and the modern world. How does this passage relate to the novel’s theme(s)?

Read the following passage from pages 295-296 (beginning of Part III). Discuss the fusion of story and the modern world. How does this passage relate to the novel’s theme(s)?

Weegit the raven has mellowed in his old age. He’s still a confirmed bachelor, but he’s

not the womanizer he once was. Playing the stock market—instead of spending his time being

a trickster—has paid off and he has a comfortable condo downtown. He plays up the angle

about creating the world and humans, conveniently forgetting he did it out of boredom. Yes,

he admits, he did steal the sun and the moon, but he insists he did it to bring light to

humankind even though he did it so that it would be easier for him to find food. After doing

some spin control on the crazy pranks of his youth, he’s become respectable. As he sips his

low-fat mocha and reads yet another sanitized version of his earlier exploits, only his small,

sly smile reveals how much he’s enjoying pulling the wool over everyone else’s eyes.

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Monkey Beach encapsulates the phenomenon of Native culture being lost through Westernization. This theme is reiterated in Lisamarie's narration about the Haisla folklore that has been lost through the disappearance of their language. When the stories are told in English, the same meaning is almost impossible to replicate. In this example we are made to see how unique each tribal culture is and how their loss leads to people becoming disconnected from their roots.