Summer of the Monkeys

The cultural setting of the novel contributes to its overall impact on the reader and to its sense of story. The inciting incident of Jay Berry’s finding escaped monkeys and his continued conflict with catching them must logically be set in a rural location and time period that excludes the intervention of authorities or passersby. Also, Jay Berry is motivated by not only his freedom to wander, hunt, and trap in the hills (alone and unencumbered by school), but also by his desire to own a pony and rifle, common needs for a male on the cusp of manhood in a remote setting before advances in technology and transportation. The regional fear of hydrophobia (rabies) serves as another example of the community’s remoteness. The rabies vaccine was first administered in 1885, but Daisy’s description of disease fear and the complete control it has over a victim suggests that the people of this rural culture are unaware that a developing drug can fight it.

Additionally, Jay Berry has a strong voice heavily influenced by his culture and upbringing; his dialogue often includes aphorisms and sayings that show regionalism. For example, when Jay Berry discovers the potential for moneymaking in monkey-catching, he says, “A hundred dollars for one monkey! Suffering cornmeal Johnnie! Grandpa, that must be some monkey!” (21) and, “Why, if I could catch all of them, I’d have more money than that Rockerfellow man” (23). His interior monologue is tinged with a slightly older and more mature character voice, as if readers are hearing an older and wiser Jay Berry tell the story. The first and last paragraphs of the novel, which read clearly from the point of view of an older Jay Berry, support this, as do details about his daily life: “In the cool silence of those Cherokee [river] bottoms, I could find all the wonders of a storybook world” (9); “I grew up on that Cherokee farm and was just about as wild as the gray squirrels in the sycamore trees, and as free as the red-tail hawks that wheeeeed their cries in those Ozark skies. I had a dandy pocketknife, and a darn good dog; that was about all a boy could hope for in those days” (5). Readers can find strong examples throughout the text with similar details and sayings that help to paint a cultural picture.

More importantly, however, the novel’s study should include discussion of cultural context to help explain some troubling uses of language. Jay Berry refers loosely to his home and farm as “smack dab in the middle of Cherokee Nation” (1). When Grandpa procures two ponies, he refers to the Native man who trades the ponies as “Indian Tom” and sometimes just “the Indian” (238). The text, written in 1976, makes no mention of the different tribes of the Cherokee Nation or the Indian Removal Act of 1830 that forcibly relocated many Native groups to westward settlements. Students of the novel might use the Cherokee National History Museum site as a starting point for more about the Cherokee Nation and the connection to Tahlequah, Oklahoma.

Having context about the era the author was writing in might help explain the frequent use of the word “crippled” to describe Daisy’s leg. A derogatory term that has now fallen out of use, the word “crippled” was once commonly used to describe someone with a physical disability. It is now considered pejorative and should be avoided.