I think that death is an obvious theme to the novel. We see throughout the text people dying, or those still alive talking about those who have passed, and also how those left cope with the death of loved ones. Also throughout the book we see the Haisla people trying to embrace the modern times while still remembering their ways of the past. We see this in numerous passages, mostly between Lisa and Ma-ma-oo or Lisa and Mick. To name two, there is the boat trip that Lisa takes with Mick to Kemano, where she learns about the rivers, and how she shouldn't touch the halibut caught in the net if she doesn't know how it got there. Another passage is when Ma-ma-oo and Lisa go blueberry picking, and they pick all three different types of blueberries. There are numerous themes in the novel, but I think that death and how the Haisla try to live in the present while incorperating the future are two of the majore themes.

some of the main themes of Monkey Beach include Haisla traditions, ghost (afterlife), teenage angst, and relationships (family & friends). In particular i enjoyed the passages that related to the Haisla traditions and the elders (Ma-ma-oo) attempt to keep some of the heritage alive. Some of the passages that come to mind are the times that Eden Robinson describes how to make oolichan grease, or when Ma-ma-oo takes Lisa blueberry picking and explains to her the different types of blueberries, or when Ma-ma-oo takes Lisa to the beach and throws different posessions into a fire to comemorate the passing of loved ones that have passed (Ba-ba-oo, Mick). Most of the passages that include Ma-ma-oo are centered around descriptions of Haisla traditions and her attempt to pass some of her knowledge of the culture on to Lisa. I like how Eden Robinson was able to incorporate some aspects of the Haisla heritage without overwhelming the reader with information. By transitioning from story to story and topic to topic she was able to keep the material fresh and the reader attentive to many different stories at once. so we were able to understand some of the native traditions without being bombarded by facts , which was really neat.

GET PUMPED FOR THE HOCKEY SEASON!!!
I LOVE CANADA
-wayne gretzky

i think that the majority of this novel deals with the conflicts of growing up and youth in a small town, through the experiences of lisa and those closest to her in her family and her circle of friends, though they vary slightly through her development. lisa is a dynamic character, and we see an example of "life on the reservation" through her eyes, though it seems like more of a coming-of-age novel (as we've discussed in class). themes include: importance of family and education, growth and personality development, the spirit world.

since lisa is a dynamic character, i'll give two examples that display her variant behavioral choices. on pg 249-51, lisa picks a fight with some riff-raff, which is a prime example of her use of poor judgement, especially in social situations. later on, she explores this avenue further and moves to vancouver to be waste money and experiment with drugs. after she moves back, she demonstrates her responsibility by vowing to finish school. her goal is to graduate before jimmy -- which is an appropriate goal, since she is older than he is -- i can't find the page number for this particular passage. at any rate, we see a renewed sense of pride in lisa, and her life getting back on track as she makes the journey to monkey beach.

There are many strong themes running throughout Monkey Beach. In particular, I also agree that it is a coming of age novel where the reader is able to experience and relate to the main character through her trials and tribulations as a teenage girl trying to make sense of the world around her. Also, the theme of Haisla traditions of the past and how they are incorporated into the present Haisla culture. More specifically, reasons as to why some traditions still exist and why others have not survived. Another important theme is the mysticism and other worldliness that plays an important role within the story. Lisa seems conflicted with her ability to see and sense things that are not of the human world. Her experience and contact with the red haired guide from the spirit world and negative events that always occur after seeing him have a great impact upon her daily life. At one point, after seeing the red haired man and sensing that something might happen to Jimmy, Lisa takes it to the extreme and forces him to remain at her side until she feels the danger has passed. At another point in the book, she sees the man again right before Mick dies. Lisa also tells the reader how to contact the dead. These are just a few examples out of the many instances in which Lisa is in touch with spirits and creatures not of the human world.

While reading Monkey Beach I found myself laughing at the language used. It was easy to relate to, and when talking about Lisa's family I could easily picture them in the moment. A section of the book that caught my surprise was the scene where Lisa calls her aunt a drunk. In this scene, the aunt is violent and drunk. I get the impression that this is not a rare occurance for her, and I found it odd how humour was used to express this moment. At lease I found it comical in an uncomfortable kind of way. It also made me think about the Native American culture, where natives to the land where and still are heavily dependent on alcohol. It made me wonder if there was commonality between the natives of both countries?

I think that some of the reoccurring themes in the novel include the explorations of personal heritage, the similarities and differences between the Reservation life and non- reservation life, and also the struggle of reconsolidating oneself with their world: Lisa's struggle with here innate prescient abilities, the family's loss of touch with their Haisla heritage, Ma-ma-oo's illness, and of course, the search for Jimmy. For example, there are many passages which illustrate certain characters' complete separation from the primal and natural world of their cultural traditions. On page 351, Jimmy confesses on Monkey Beach that he "had no idea of how to make a fire"; his world is almost completely removed from this basic aspect of survival. The mother likewise confesses that "if she tried to chop wood...she'd probably hack a leg off"(175). The analogy of the urgency in understanding one's body relates to understanding the different systems at work in one's external life is another example of this "reconsolidation" of the self. "Most people only learn about their body when something goes wrong with it. Mom could tell you anything about skin when she got her first deep wrinkle"(235). Ma-ma-oo's illness forces her to learn about the anatomical processes of her life, onlyu after a heart attack, just as Lisa has been reassessing her relationship with her family, and the old ways of life after she has felt their absence, something she had not been able to do when she lost Ma-ma-oo and Mick.

Eden Robinson fills Monkey Beach with so many different themes. There are more modern ideas of coming of age, love, issues of alcoholism and other drug use and familial relationships combined with more traditional themes of spirituality, mythology, holding onto the traditional way of life, life after death, and appreciation of nature.
Just to talk about something a little different here are a few passages that show the theme of family and familial relationships. The first starts on page 59 when Lisa wonder whether or not her father and Mick would have ever been friends if they weren't brothers. She seems to emphasize that drastic differences between these two men, that in any other case would keep them in completely separate worlds, but because they are related they are able to get past their differences and share a truly loving bond together. Another passage comes on pages 45-46 when Lisa is complaining that Jimmy is always following her around and her mom tells her that she will miss it when he doesn't do that anymore. As someone that is the youngest sibling of a fairly large family, I found this passage to be so true to how we feel about our siblings when we are younger. I also found it quite sweet later in the book when Lisa senses something will happen to Jimmy and not only does she completely break down, but decides not to let him out of her sight (funny how her ideas about wanting him around have changed. Family relationships come up all over the place; there's the whole conflict between Mick and Trudy and all the talks and visits with Ma-ma-oo and Lisa. There's also all the scenes on the beach when Lisa takes Jimmy away after the party that show how tightly knit a family can be. Lisa seems to be a figure in the book that wants the family to stick together and to reamin close, while so many other characters don't seem that concerned at all about their family memebers. There's a big difference between Lisa who became so close to her grandmother and her uncle and Jimmy, who can't even understand why she was so affected by their deaths because he never took the time to get to know them the way that Lisa did.

The theme that most interested me was this idea of educational instruction to the reader. From page 4 we are painstakingly talked through directions to finding Kitamaat on a map. At first i was dubious, but these educational interventions become less jarring, flowing with more ease as the novel progresses. Others examples have alluded to; contacting the spirit world, the workings of the heart, how to make oolichan grease etc. Eden Robinson juxtaposes the narrative of a young girl explaining her thoughts and re-telling her memories, with this occasional voice of authority and experience that teaches the reader method using scientific fact. Such a wonderfully effective technique elevates the novel above being catagorized as merely a 'coming of age' story. The absolute unquestionable relaying of important information seems to play on First Nation peoples' anxiety over the loss of knowledge and tradition. The instructive voice that interupts passages in the novel works in some way as a reminder that traditional elements of culture should be taught and passed on, in order to avoid losing them forever. The map is a great example of this anxiety - we are taken to the pin-point location of the village starting from a broad view of B.C. The guide insists we use our finger, as if we have to really feel that this place is real - and to acknowledge the town's surroundings on the map in print, so that it will never disappear.

The theme that most interested me was this idea of educational instruction to the reader. From page 4 we are painstakingly talked through directions to finding Kitamaat on a map. At first i was dubious, but these educational interventions become less jarring, flowing with more ease as the novel progresses. Others examples have alluded to; contacting the spirit world, the workings of the heart, how to make oolichan grease etc. Eden Robinson juxtaposes the narrative of a young girl explaining her thoughts and re-telling her memories, with this occasional voice of authority and experience that teaches the reader method using scientific fact. Such a wonderfully effective technique elevates the novel above being catagorized as merely a 'coming of age' story. The absolute unquestionable relaying of important information seems to play on First Nation peoples' anxiety over the loss of knowledge and tradition. The instructive voice that interupts passages in the novel works in some way as a reminder that traditional elements of culture should be taught and passed on, in order to avoid losing them forever. The map is a great example of this anxiety - we are taken to the pin-point location of the village starting from a broad view of B.C. The guide insists we use our finger, as if we have to really feel that this place is real - and to acknowledge the town's surroundings on the map in print, so that it will never disappear.

the theme of this book for me seemed to be to depress the reader by sucker-punching them at the end with a wacked out ending. just kidding. but not really. the main theme seemed to be the rediscovery of one's self through reflections on the past. this story isn't about finding out what happened to jimmy at all. it's about lisa finding herself in the wake of jimmy's disappearance, and discovering what she needs to do with her life. she remembers, and in a way immortalizes, the lives of ma-ma-oo and mick, who are her two most defined role models and shows the reader why they were good, or even great people. as her story unfolds, the reader gets the idea that maybe she'll even add jimmy to her list of role models, and become a better person by doing something good with her life. unfortunately she picks the wrong door and gets dead like jimmy, and like i mentioned before, it's kind of like getting sucker-punched because you feel like you've been cheated out of something that could have been way better.

This is certainly a coming of age novel. The thing that sets it apart from other novels is its First Nation reserve setting. The lessons learned in the book, therefore, are not only that of the traditional coming of age novel but those of the modern struggles that face the aboriginal Haislas. Although Lisa posesses the poor judgement of an adolescent growing up, she is blessed with a peculiar ability to feel her surroundings very well. She percieves the spirits around her.
There is the theme of family throughout the novel as well, although there are many problems facing Lisa and her kin, she still speaks of them endearingly and they still function as a unit.

one thing that stuck in my head from the class discussions was that there were a few people who were disapointed with the fact that several issues (namely drug abuse and alcoholism) were glossed over. As I was reading, I actually found this to be one reason why the book is so realistic -- when you're dealing with these issues in your family, most of the time, they're just a part of your life - - they just are part of the norm -- and though it sucks, thats just how you keep going on with your life. I loved it.

Two of the main themes through Monkey Beach are: tradition and family relationships. They go with each other. FOr example, with family relationships: Lisa and her grandma have such a close bond beause Lisa wants to learn about her culture, and her grandmother is not afraid to teach it to her. She is always seems sad and frusterated when Lisa tells her that her mother has not told her this or that. Her granmother is helping her learn thier culture's traditions. One passage that connects with this is, on page 213: " 'Let's go pick kolu'n, she said. I put on my hiking shoes, and Ma-ma-oo got her machete....Ma-ma-oo liked to mix the kolu'n with pussy willows and put them in Mason jars." Robinson goes on after this to list how to to this. Another example of her and a family member working on a tradition is on page 99 when Lisa is fishing with Mick: " You aren't suppose to touch them if you don't know how to handle them." He is telling Lisa how she shouldn't keep the halibut because they do not know where it came from and that can be bad luck. This book is full of tons and tons of themes, this just touches upon one.

There are many themes in Monkey Beach – death, love (both romantic and familial), the preservation of native culture, the relationship between humans and the supernatural, growing up, family ties, history, legend/myth, quests, tradition vs. modern ways, relationships, and truth. The question of truth is one we have explored in other novels, and I think it is equally pertinent here. This novel is full of supernatural, mysterious, mythical things, but there is also an element of truth to it, in the life experiences of the characters. The characters also discover truth within the story, and I think it’s interesting to see how those discoveries are often made involuntarily, and what is revealed is often unpleasant, demonstrating the veracity of the cliché “ignorance is bliss”. On page 254, Tab tells Lisa that Aunt Kate thinks Ma-ma-oo killed Ba-ba-oo, and Lisa says “The whole idea was ludicrous. I couldn’t picture Ma-ma-oo letting anyone kick her around and I certainly couldn’t see her hurting anyone”. Then on 355-6, Lisa dreams of Ma-ma-oo, bruised, sitting in the kitchen while her husband drowns in the bathroom. I think this scene may be meant to show what really did happen, and while Ma-ma-oo did not literally kill her husband, she could be said to be partly guilty for his death because she purposely did nothing. I don’t think this changes our opinion of her as a character, but for me at least, it connects the themes of truth and growing up – part of growing up is learning things about your family that you probably don’t want to know. You learn that the people who seemed almost godlike in your youth are only human and they all have dirty little secrets. Another scene where the truth is discovered accidentally (but in the real world instead of the supernatural) is on page 365, where Lisa finds a photograph while she’s looking for the promise ring. This of course has to do with why Jimmy went off with Josh in the first place, but the truth is slightly fuzzy here. The fact that the photo is of a priest and a child suggests that Karaoke was not a willing participant in her encounter(s?) with Josh, but we don’t really know anything about the nature of their relationship, only that a pregnancy resulted, and she killed the baby. I think this brings up the question of what the truth really is, and if we can ever know the whole truth of something.

I think the themes that really resonated with me have to do with traditions being lost/passed on/ adapted; perception, especially cultural perception and how that changes experience; the power of memory to heal; coming to peace with death.

The adaptation of tradition comes up in many parts of the book, but one is on pages 175-176 where Lisa and her mother "barbecue" Lisa's hair, which she has cut off in mourning for Mick. Her mother remembers that burning is a part of the ritual but they have various issues with starting a proper fire and settle on the hibatchi.

Another example is on page 152 when Lisa's grandmother takes out a pack of cigarrettes in the woods and Lisa says. "Holy. When did you start smoking?". Her Ma-ma-oo tells her that in order to gather something from the forest she needs to give tobacco in return, and breaks the cigarette and sprinkles the contents. Of course tobacco was traditionally something you'd have to grow, back in the day. Throughout this book there is a ton of smoking going on, and it's clear it's not just being done for tradition. One particularly ironic moment is when Lisa's on her trek to Monkey Beach and she meets the overly-friendly kayaker and asks him for a smoke. On pg 217 she says (to herself), "Ah tobacco, whose sacred smoke carries wishes to the spirit world Please let me find Jimmy.After the way I was sucking the smokes back yesterday you'd think the spirits would throw him in my lap just to shut me up." The crossover between addiction and Haisla spirituality and Lisa's awareness of cigarettes serving both these purposes is brilliantly portrayed here. Robinson's humour really comes through in this scene as well.

I think that one of the main themes in this book is how the death of someone close to you forces you to look more closely at your own identity. In losing someone close, it is as if you've lost a part of yourself, so you are forced to reconstruct your own history in an attempt to find out who you really are and to feel whole again. This is what Lisa does throughout the book in response to losing Jimmy, but we see her go through a similar process in her memory after losing Mick. After Mick's death, Lisa immerses herself more in traditional culture. This is a way of mourning, but also of discovering more about herself. Jimmy, who was not as close to Mick, remains uninterested in tradition. Lisa also has other more common responses to death. She gets angry. We see that she begins fighting in school and eventually begins drinking heavily. This is all part of the long process of healing that she goes through. She eventually recovers from Micks death quite well, but with the loss of Jimmy there is the worry that she might fall backwards. However, this time she embraces the traditions of her culture and takes action to try to save Jimmy. In the end, i get the feeling that she is a much stronger person, able to accept the cycles of life.

I think that some of the major themes in this novel were the power of, linking it to death and the effect death had on the family. Throughout the book, there were a lot of references made to the supernatural powers and how Gladys knew when she was younger what is going to happen and we saw how Ma-ma-oo would go and feed the dead with their favorite things and this transferred over to Lisa's belief. She started to think that she was having visions and she would go visit Mick's grave and would give him food. An example was when she she thought Jimmy was going to die and she would follow him everywhere he went because she thought she could have save him if anything was going to happen. It ended up that his teammates would all get mumps and Jimmy was the only one that missed getting it. Every time someone would die, she would think it was related to one of her dreams she had and believe that she could have saved them only if she acted for example Mick and Ma-ma-oo. As for the efffect death has on the family, i think they both feed off each other. To me although it was not visible, when a family member died it would somehow make the others appreciate the others more. When Jimmy was feared dead, Lisa stayed home but when it seemed like things weren't looking promising she thought it was time for her to be with her family and start looking for her brother. When they are present they might not seem like they like each other but when they loose them, it's like they have lost a part of them.

I think the theme of the book I enjoyed the most was the supernatural elements. I really enjoyed the natural way that ghosts and myths were represented. She wrote about the supernatural in almost sardonic terms, which made even the mystical parts more believable.
I'm thinking particularly of a passage towards the beginning of the book. "I used to think that if I could talk to the spirit world, I'd get some answers. Ha bloody ha. I wish the dead would just come out and say what they mean instead of being so passive-aggressive about the whole thing." (p. 17)
One of the other scenes I particularly liked was when Lisa went to the therapist. At the same time that the therapist is telling her that there are no mystical ghosts or other creatures, a frightening demon "was just beside her, whispering in her ear. It had no flesh, just tight, thin skin over bones. Its fingers sank into her arms, its legs wrapped around her waist as it clung to her like a baby." The irony is fantastic.

Monkey Beach is a novel with multiple themes, including death, incorporating the past into one's daily life(with the spirit world), family and relationships, and coming of age. One theme I found particularly interesting was family and relationships. I enjoyed seeing how the dynamics of a relationship changed and shifted throughout the novel. One example is Lisa's relatinships with Frank, Pooch, and Cheese. Throughout her adolescent years, her feelings for the boys fluctuated between hate, friendship, and perhaps even love. On page 314, on the way to Pooch's funeral, Frank reflects on the awkward balance between friendship and something more. "I always wanted to ask you out. But I figured you deserved better. Then you went out with Pooch." This is drastically different from one of their first encounters (pgs. 64-65) when Frank and Lisa get into a fist fight. Another compelling relationship is the one between Lisa and Ma-ma-oo. Ma-ma-oo is Lisa's link to the past, and to the Native traditions of the Haisla people. She was more than just a maternal presence, but a role model, and someone who Lisa wanted to learn from and be like. So, she was crushed when Tab informed her of the abuse that Ma-ma-oo suffered from Ba-ba-oo. Lisa also regrets not being able to use her gift that Ma-ma-oo explained to her (of seeing the tree spirit-warning of death) in order to save Ma-ma-oo's life.

Monkey Beach explores many themes. Lisa, the narrator tells stories about her past while searching for her brother in the present. the theme of growing up as a Haisla. The traditions they have and participate in. For example the passage when making Oolichan grease is described. Lisa's family goes fishing for the little fish, then carefully make the grease. If there is enough it is then traded to other tribes for things that are hard for the Haisla people to get. Another theme is the idea of myth and magic. The tale of the sasquatch is a reoccuring myth. In the beginning of the book Jimmy is in search of a picture of a Sasquatch to win $30,000 from a magazine. (page 10). also the myth of seeing ghosts and speaking to the dead. The dreams that Lisa has about the red headed little man are only believed by her grandmother and lisa, however he symbolizes death and lisa begins to take his visits very seriously. A final theme expressed in this book is Lisa's coming of age story. Her family is searching for her missing brother, Jimmy, and on her trip she is remembering events in her past that brought her to where she is today. She talks about friends, bullies, alcohol, parties, boys and cleaning up her life. She learned something from all of her experiences and everything played a role in her life that brought her on the journey to find her brother. this is an inspirational story that tells the realities of growing up as a Haislan and the joys and losses her family and friends endured.

There are many important themes in this coming of age novel, about Lisa, a Haisha girl growing up in a community of comprised of people of First Nation decent in a small town of British Columbia. As Lisa and her family search for her brother Jimmy at sea, she looks back on their life growing up. One theme that resonated with me was the theme of death and dying. Lisa struggles with the death throughout the novel, as her and her grandmother Ma-ma-oo, who is connected to Haisha tradition try to make connections with her deceased relatives.
Ma-ma-oo is in touch with the supernatural and has introduced this aspect of Haisha culture, along with many others to Lisa. Lisa struggles with the death of her Uncle Mick and feels solance through connecting to ghosts. Ma-ma-oo explains to Lisa that, "You don't need to be scared of things you don't understand. They are just ghosts" (p. 265). Ma-ma-oo is completely comfortable with making contact with the dead, again on pag

There are many important themes in this coming of age novel, about Lisa, a Haisha girl growing up in a community comprised of people of First Nation decent, in a small town in British Columbia. As Lisa and her family search for her brother Jimmy at sea, she looks back on their life growing up.
One theme that resonates with me was the theme of death and the supernatural world. Lisa struggles with the death throughout the novel, as her and her grandmother Ma-ma-oo, who is connected to Haisha tradition try to make connections with her deceased relatives.
Ma-ma-oo is in touch with the supernatural and has introduced this aspect of Haisha culture, along with many others to Lisa. Lisa struggles with the death of her Uncle Mick and feels solance through connecting to ghosts. Ma-ma-oo explains to Lisa that, "You don't need to be scared of things you don't understand. They are just ghosts" (p. 265). Ma-ma-oo is completely comfortable with making contact with the dead, again on page 289, she talks about making contact with deceased relatives, "They came this morning she said." Lisa struggles with death and the superanatural world. She has premonitions of the future, which she ignores and then later blames herself for not taking action. Some examples of this are the deaths of her Uncle Mick and Ma-ma-oo which she thinks she could have stopped from happening.

Wow, people have done a great job covering the themes of Monkey Beach. What can I add? I liked reading a young child's view on things. A writer is always searching for a new way to describe a situation/scene, and a method for doing this can be to look through the eyes of a child. A child has not lived for long enough to resort to overdone ways of describing things. Everything they see and experience has a fresh sheen. Here are some examples of Robinson's use of a child's mind to key into a situation's oddities:
"I snuck my Pac-Man game into my knapsack because anything you had to dress up for couldn't be fun" (pg. 55)
"She looked more frazzled than I did, although I suppose I got that impression mostly from her hair, which frizzed free of the two gold barrettes on either side of her head." (pg. 272)
It is a successful technique to use as a writer: to embody onesself in another character's voice in order to find a new way to describe something. This helps the reader to look at the world of Monkey Beach, as well as (in turn) their own world in a different light.

Among the many themes of family, mourning/dealing with loss, the supernatural, growing up, traditional Haisla culture, etc. found in Monkey Beach, I liked the way the natural world, and animals were an integral part of Lisa and Jimmy's culture. Early on in the book, Lisa explains how Jimmy would feed the crows every morning, "Ma-ma-oo told Jimmy that feeding crows brought you good luck, so he tried it before a swim meet. It was the first time he won" (Robinson, 125) Jimmy fed the crows regularly, even after his swimming career was over. Lisa also feels a connection to the crows, when they speak to her at the beginning of the novel. "Six crows sit in our greengage tree. Half-awake, I hear them speak to me in Haisla. La'es, they say, La'es, la'es" (Robinson, 1) Another example occurs later in the novel when Lisa and Jimmy are returning home from Monkey Beach, and their boat becomes surrounded by Orcas. "One slid by the boat, its fin coming up to my waist as it broke surface and lifted the boat slightly, tilting it so that we rocked. It was longer than our boat, longer and almost as wide. Jimmy kicked off his shoes and jumped in" (Robinson, 353) Nature, and especially wild animals, must have played an important role in Lisa and Jimmy's culture, and even though they are much farther removed from the traditional Haisla customs and beliefs, while living in a society which doesn't value the traditional culture as much as their grandparent's, they still feel a connection to these animals that were also probably important to their ancestors.

I think the prevailing theme of the novel is the creation and understanding of identity, which takes on a lot of different shapes (cultural heritage, family history, family relationships, teenage angst, etc). It seems to me the main way the Lisa forms a sense of her identity is by understanding her cultural heritage and by "just living her life", or experiencing the problems of growing up. By combining these two different parts of her life, she slowly comes to terms with her complicated sense of self.

A passage I thought that was particularly interesting and relevant (in some way) to this idea was when Lisa described how to make Oolichan grease. She goes through a horribly complicated description of a pretty complex and labor-intensive process after she said that her mother was disappointed no one in her family knew how to make the grease. I assume she learned how to make the grease after that particular situation, but I think it points to an interesting evolution in her character. From not being bothered to go help make grease to, by the time of the narrative, knowing the rather complicated process well enough to explain it is a big leap.

At the same time, her personal life seems quite removed from the world of her cultural heritage. As Katrina mentioned, her relationship with Frank evolves significantly from the time of their fight (which, to my mind, was hilarious) to his admitting that he always wanted to date her. Not only do the differences in their exchanges indicate a development of maturity, it also shows a clear development of Lisa's feelings. Throughout the book, the intertwining of her individual experiences with her cultural history really shapes her identity and her understanding of it.

Some key themes are death, identity, love and relationships, truth, history, and tradition, to name a few.
The Haisla tradition, though not always very strong & prevalent, had a tremendous effect on how Lisa grew up. There are constant reminders of Haisla belief and tradition throughout, but some notable ones were the in depth instruction on how to make the grease. Perhaps most important about that passage is that Lisa comments that no one in her immediate family makes it anymore, and instead trades for it. Also, Lisa lights her hair on fire as a traditional mourning practice. In general, it seems that most of her interactions with Ma-ma-oo center around Ma-ma-oo helping Lisa learn more about her heritage.

Some of the themes in this novel are death and loss, tradition, family, and humor. One of the themes that really stuck out to me in "Monkey Beach" was the re-occuring theme of food. From the first trip to Monkey Beach that Lisa describes when she looks forward to eating Spam on the boat, to more mature passages when she educates the reader step by step on how to make Oolichan grease, the subject of food and eating comes up quite often in the book. I think in some ways this acts to relate the mix of cultures (Canadian and Haisla First Nation) that Lisa is brought up under. She conveys a lot of old Haisla traditions and knowledge through her detailed accounts of fishing or searching through the woods to find berries, “We scanned the ground for the serrated, broad leaves of thimbleberry and salmonberry shoots… You had to be careful not to pick the ones higher than your knees…”. I think that passages like this bring Lisa back to a very primitive state. Despite being in some ways very far from her ancestor’s culture, rituals around food keep her rooted to the land of her culture.

Monkey Beach has a few major themes; Death, Family, Love, and the Impact of Modern Life on Tradition and Superstition. They are all tied together in what Haisla means to Lisa. The impact of modern life on tradition and superstition is obvious in the first section of Part three, "In Search of the Elusive Sasquatch." The oral tradition of the Haisla people comes through the literature with the mixture of modern times and traditional stories. In it, Weegit the raven is shown to have created the world, humans and brought light to it...while at the same time he now plays the stock market and drinks low-fat mocha. The novel Monkey Beach uses this passage to show how the old stories have been "sanitized" and yet are still living beneath the outer layer of each member of the tribe. Lisa's visions and Pooch's obsession with voo-doo show that the modern world has changed and perhaps undermined the past power of the Haisla tribe, but that it exists nontheless.

Too many to talk about-the biggest that came to mind: Generational gaps, disassociation, city v. her town, guidence. The series of guides that Lisa has throughout this story is facinating. The one true constant is the spirtual world that she's so in touch with, it's also the same world that torments her the most. It's a thread that's constant throughout, while other figures leave or die. Mick obviously, a big one, serveed as a tie to her immedaite family. You can sense a disconnect between Lisa and her Mother and Father and Aunts as well. While Mick was alive, he would tell her storys about her parents, almost reminding her of thier humainity. When Mick dies, that tie is severed and the focus is shifted to her time with Ma-ma-oo. Ma-ma-oo is her connects to her own Hailsa roots, teaching her about plants and nature. She is also a pillar of strengh to Lisa, even up to her death refusing to let other people do things for her. Then Ma-ma-oo dies, and LIsa is lost again. You could also argue Tab as a kind of guide, not as obvious, but Tab definatly kept Lisa grounded, ands she severed as a support for Lisa. But once again-Suprise! Tab up and leaves too. Once all her guides have left her, (red-haired man excluded, although he does seem to take a hiatus during this period) she becomes emmersed in drugs and non-stop partying with strange people she doesn't know. The returining of guides, the "ghost" of Tab, bring her back to her family.
There's always that genereational gap we talked about in class as well, and that attempt to disacciociate the younger generation from the eldest. Example being Lisa's mother never telling her that she also used to see the same things that Lisa did, and instead of trying to explain it, taking her to a shrink. She's veering away from the tradition and coming into the newer ways. While there exisits a huge gap between the 3rd and 2nd generations and the 1st generation and the 2nd, there is a delicate harmony between the 3rd and 1st, demonstarted by Lisa and Ma-ma-oo's relationship. There never was any kind of disipline or punishment from Ma-ma-oo, but whatever chastising Ma-ma-oo did, Lisa took without mush rudeness.

While reading Monkey Beach some of the themes that stuck out to me were death, strong family ties, and Native Culture. With respect to Native Culture I would like to talk about how stories and coustoms have been passed down from generation to generation and are still beliefs held to be true.
On Page 317 Lisa tells us that clams have black tongues becasue a long time ago there was a great fire and the clams tried to put it out by spitting and burned their tongues. Even though its only one sentence I feel that this part of a passage really shows what it is like to be Halisa and believe in the culture. It is an almost romantic way to explain why things are the way they are.
Then on page 151 Ma-Ma-oo and Lisa are out bear hunting and they gather Oxasuli root to ward off ghosts, as they have been plauging Lisa as of late. The thought that a root from a plant could keep away medelsome spirts seems ridiculous, but then again I haven't seen a ghost before. Had I ever witnessed a ghost I would probably be inclined to try anything to keep them away especially if my grandmother told me it would work.
I think these elements of Native Culture in the book are great. Learning things from your older relatives is always interesting, even more so when its stories about how how things came to be the way they are, or which plants you can use for special purposes.

Reading through everyones responses, I was opened to a plethora of themes I never really noticed as I was reading the novel. For me, the novel seemed to highlight themes of Haisla traditions (including their contrast to modern life) and the general conflicts of Lisa's coming of age. Both of these have been touched upon thoroughly in discussion, yet I think the fishing scene with Ma-ma-oo and the spiritual burning sequence highlight the theme of Haisla traditions to the greatest extent. As Ma-ma-oo throws different objects into the fire to symbolize the passing of loved ones, a rich almost supernatural element is infused into one the many traditions of the Haisla. The fishing scene displays a strong example of Haisla traditions compared to modern life.

one theme that i've enjoyed in this novel is the mysticism involved in LisaMarie's everyday life.
One example is her matter-of-fact descriptions of the little man that visits her room. she writes, "his hair was standing up like a troll doll's, a wild, elecric red. He did a tap dance on my dresser. Then he slipped..." (132). it's this visualization that she give the reader which really pulls you into her view of things, which exists somewhere between our known reality and the other world, the old world of her ancestors.
in another scene, there is communication from the voices in the trees while on Monkey Beach, "'Lisa,' they say. 'Come closer,' the first voice says. 'Just listen to us. Come over to the trees.' They've been calling to me, but i don't know for how long. i know i should get in my boat and ignore them. i know i should leave." (360). This matter-of-fact communication and interaction with the old world of magic does so much to keep us involved in her story. it's so simply delivered, and it's the material that keeps us reading.
we all want, i think, to have some deeper connection with the world around us. her's may not have always been so positive, but it was real. it was a connection none the less, and it give this story so much life.

there are many themes throughout this book. some of which are death, family, relationships, and the one that has interested me most is the ghost like image. lisa believes there are ghosts. her mom yells at mick for supposedly telling her stories that will give her nightmares. lisa believes she hears things and wakes up in the middle of many nights. at home she has woken up to a ghost like figure in her bedroom. the passage that explains this ghostlike figure is on page 132. he is a torture to her and she is left remembering his touch on her shoulder..

i think that the theme that stands out for me the most in the novel is heritage, not only in the sense of ma-ma-oo and the old ways of their people, but also heritage in the ways that memory is reflected upon, it shapes each character in the books perception of themselves as well as their actions. mick has the memory of his days fighting for the rights of their people that affected him as we knew him--he had been through a lot so was looking for the quiet life, and caused him to feel like he couldnt stay in one place. the memory of her childhood with jimmy obviously affected how lisa felt about his loss, she remembers his endearing attributes and how she wishes she had treated him differently when he was around. Heritage is a cause of grief, ma-ma-oo longs for days past, mick feels defeated, and the grief of her brothers loss is sharpened by the memory of their childhood toghether. heritage might not be the correct word but it seems appropriate for a culture that emphasises it so much.

The themes in 'Monkey Beach' range from issues arising from the family to native traditions to dealing with the privacy of death.
Death - or the appearence of - is a big part of the book. It opens with Jimmy's dissapearence and much of the novel is spent in search of him, both in the present as well as the past.
When Lisa explains Ba-ba-oo's death, this theme was solidified for me. Robinson writes, "Uncle Mick had to kick in the door when Ma-ma-oo got worried. He wouldn't let Ma-ma-oo into the bathroom until he'd checked that Ba-ba-oo wasn't alive, turned the water off and put a towel over him" (80). Robinson writes of her characters discovering the intracacies of death as well as dealing with the before- and after-effects. It's one of the major themes and influences of the book.

The main theme for me in this novel is cultural understanding of death and the afterlife. As was discussed in class, another theme is coming of age and teenage issues. This novel also has a strong theme of the importance of family. In the interview with Eden Robinson that was posted, she says the book is about love and I find that interesting because I never saw that while I was reading the book. Examples of cultural understanding of death and the afterlife are found in the passage where Ma-ma-oo took Lisamarie with her to the Octopus Beds on Ba-ba-oo's birthday and brought him Johnnie Walker, cigarettes, and Twinkies. They fed the gifts into the fire and spoke to Ba-ba-oo acknowledging that they can't see him because he's dead. Although the scene was very "matter of fact", Lisamarie couldn't share it with her mom, saying "It felt like it was something private". (p80) Another example, and one of my favorites, is when, at the beginning of Part Four, The Land of the Dead, Lisamarie scolds Uncle Mick for not visiting her. It was a very funny scene and indicates that in her culture, she expects visits from the dead and was quite upset that Mick had not done that.

I think that major themes of Monkey Beach are telling the story in the tradition of first-nation writing, with particular focus on the understanding of death and the afterlife. I think there is also an importance to learning to cope with death, and understanding tradition and culture in terms of the themes of death and the belief in the afterlife.

The biggest theme I understood from the book was trust, or a lack thereof. There's a trust that people have in each other. The mom trusts the dad with his projects, Mick trusts Lisa with the boat and his stories. It goes on and on. There are also untrusting relationships too. Between the Haisla and the skin heads, the mom's distrust for whatever Lisa and her friends get into, etc.

There are a few obvious and prominent themes in the novel, monkey Beach. First I think that death is a very important one. LisaMarie loses many close family members and friends in horrifying ways. ma-ma-oo to the fire, Mick to the seals and Pooch to suicide. These three situations affected her emotionally quite a bit.
Another was definitley the importance of nature and tradition. LisaMarie gives the reader so much information about how certain foods are prepared and gathered. For example the oolichan grease and ma-ma-oo's love for it and her hope that LisaMarie would have begun to make it herself. Loss of tradition through generations was prominent as well. Ma-ma-oo was a big traditionalist but her children were very different than her. And then LisaMarie's generation were even less connected with nature, partying all the time from very young ages, many seeming very lost. Pooch commits suicide, lisaMarie leaves school, Jimmy even quits swimming. The solemness and respect that Ma-ma-oo has for the envvironment and the people around her has seem to have skipped the generations that have come after her.
I also think unwavering love is a big theme in this novel. SO many of the characters are found deviating from the path of morals and success. The biggest incident is lisaMarie's drug binge in Vancouver. WHen she returns, after leaving without a word, she is welcomed. Nobody asks questions and she doesn't recieve a lecture. Same with mick's return. LisaMarie's parents know that Mick is a trouble maker, a drinker and a smoker, yet they do not deny their children a relationship with Mick even though he is not the best influence. And LisaMarie sees Mick hug and kiss her mother who then pushes him away. She does not hold anything against either of them especially mick who is defying her father with his actions.

I don't really know what to add. I have not read everything people have posted. This might be a repeat. I think a major theme is traditions. Ma-ma-oo trying to keep the tradtions alive by teaching them to Lisa. For example, she teaches Lisa about the Oolichan grease. The other important theme is death. This book is surrounded by images of death with Mick and Jimmy.

Like everyone has said it's a coming of age story. I also think a big theme is coping with loss. Lisa must learn to cope with so much loss in her life. First she losses Jimmy. Then, she losses Mic. Then she losses her Grandmother in a fire. She expresses all of this loss through anger.

So clearly heritage and death are major concepts within this story. Lisa has a strength that is encouraged to continue on by her uncle Mick. I was confused about the last few pages though. There is connection to these aspects, but her experience on the beach and in the trees was too abstract for me to put together. Any ideas of what was trying to be expressed here?

Themes within Monkey Beach are spread thoughout the entire novel. One that i found constantly is the aspect of family. There is a strong family pond between the family in the Haisla culture. Lisa Marie's thwo best friends are family members and she is friends with her cousins as well. Her and her uncle Mick have a strong relationship and i found it funny how Mick calls Lisa Marie his little warrior. Ma-ma-oo is another strong relationship she has. Lisa Marie is not only close to Ma-ma-oo but she learns many things from her. Lisa Marie learns a great deal about her haisla culture where then she can pass that down to her children keeping the many stories and traditions strong through the generations in the future.

This book deals with so many important themes. Some of these included: relationships, traditions, the spirit world, nature, death. The one theme that really interested me were the relatinships in the novel. Lisa's relationships teach her and mold her into the woman she becomes. Her relationship with Mick not only teaches her about some of the traditions but also how to be strong. Lisa's realtionship with Ma-ma-oo teaches her about traditions and about her culture. These realtionships mold Lisa. Without these realtionships she would have been a different person. I can't think of anything else. Everyone else has done a great job of covering the major themes.

I think one of the essential themes has to do with borders. There seem to be many borders surrounding Lisa and her life. The obvious one being the border between life and death. I've noticed that Lisa tends to be stuck in between many of these borders. Lisa although living, is struck by visions of the dead, especially in the last scene where she talks with Mick and Ma-ma-oo. She is constantly stuck in a stage that exists between life and death. Likewise,She also tends to stay in between her spriritual life and reality. She tries to dismiss her visions, but they are always there, and they always possess a power over or through her. Lastly, she is stuck in between the borders of modernity and tradition. She learns many traditional ways from Ma-ma-oo and Mick, however she is forced to deal with the stigma attached to these practices in modernity. People view her as an eccentric who is interested in the old ways. Her life seems to overlap many of these borders which seems to be a major theme. At the end, Ma-ma-oo tells her to go back, she does not belong in this spiritual world she has found. so, the novel tends to discuss issues of borders and how these borders become indistinguishable for Lisa.