Analysis Of Derek Walcott's 'Dream On Monkey Mountain'

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Dream on Monkey Mountain by Derek Walcott is a play that Walcott says in his "Note on Production" in the beginning of the play "'The play is a dream, one that exists as much in the given minds of its principal characters as in that of its writer, and as such, it is illogical, derivative, contradictory. Its source is metaphor and it is best treated as a physical poem with all the subconscious and deliberate borrowings of poetry" (Walcott, 208). By using this method of a dreamscape, mixed with reality Walcott helps portray the mental disorder of Caribbean people that has come about because of colonization. It also allows Walcott to find a way to overcome this affliction through the process of a journey of self-discovery. Though the plot, because of its mixing of dream and reality can be thought of as confusing, Walcott has actually kept it really simple. The main Because of colonization and being deemed as less because of his skin color, he has forgotten his true name; when asked by Corporal Lestrade what his name is, Makak replies "I forget" (Walcott, 218). Makak is arrested on the charge of vandalism and is taken to jail. In jail he dreams of seeing the apparition of what he assumes is a white woman, who comes to him and reveals that he is the king of Africa; he is also jokingly called "de king of Africa" (Walcott, 214) by Lestrade. At the end of the play Makak realizes that he does not want to be who the white woman says he is and decides to kill the apparition in order to assume his own identity. Immediately after he kills this apparition, Makak remembers his true name. During the part of the play where Lestrade questions Makak and he replies to the question of "What is your

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