'Dream on Monkey Mountain'

I’d be lying if I said reading Derek Walcott’s Dream on Monkey Mountain was an easy task. 

I started and stopped and started and stopped and kept on starting and stopping until I realized I had no idea what was going on.

this text required uninterrupted focus.

in the production note, Walcott describes the play as “illogical, derivative, [and] contradictory.” (208)

if you blink (or rush and try to read it in spurts), you might miss it. 

Derek Walcott’s Dream on Monkey Mountain is a critique on colonialism in the Caribbean. and though the island on which this play takes place is an amalgamation of Caribbean islands, the sentiments echoed by the characters in this play are common thoughts in the minds of colonized peoples everywhere.

Walcott frames this study as a dream, using figures from Trinidadian folklore and Haitian voodoo to articulate the role race plays in colonialism and as a result, Black exceptionalism. the majority of his characters are named after animals or insects, and the characters in positions of power are given names that allude to white ancestry or influence. in doing this, Walcott is able to emphasize the divide between the colonizers and the colonized, denoting the roles each character plays in this hierarchy.

the play is not linear in structure— it starts in the middle, jumps to the beginning, and then pushes through the middle to the end. 

I’d say the majority of the play is a dream, but Walcott has carefully blurred the lines making it almost impossible to determine what is a dream and what is reality.

in the play, Makak has a dream in which an apparition of a white woman visits him. the apparition declares that Makak is of some royal, hierarchal status and convinces him to leave Monkey Mountain to travel to his home, Africa. Makak, along with his friend Moustique, set out for Africa performing ‘miracles’ along the way. at some point, Makak is arrested for disorderly behavior in a market and Corporal Lestrade brings him to jail where he is housed in a cell alongside Tigre and Souris. 

Moustique refers to the apparition Makak has seen as la diablesse, a demonic character in Trinidadian folklore that casts spells on vulnerable male victims. by personifying la diablesse as a white woman, Walcott begins to craft a metaphor for colonial influence on Caribbean islands. her whiteness gives her words validity and Makak succumbs to her wishes without question, referring to himself as her “warrior” and revering her as God.

the relationship between Makak and la diablesse is also used to introduce the theme of exceptionalism. she calls Makak by his ‘proper’ name, Felix Hobain, and instills in him a feeling of superiority by telling him he is from a lineage of African kings and lions. 

at the end of the play, Makak struggles to sever ties between himself and la diablesse, even though it is necessary for his freedom, because she has empowered Makak by making him feel special. Corporal Lestrade, described in the list of characters as mulatto, is the force that convinces Makak to slaughter la diablesse, continuing the conversation of exceptionalism in the nuanced realm of mixed race, colorism, and the resulting social hierarchies.

Walcott continues to establish metaphors for the effects of colonialism throughout the play in pointed mentions of the full moon, white spiders, and a white mask. he establishes the lore regarding these images, and gives the audience permission to associate whiteness with death.

and though Walcott makes the connection between colonialism and death painfully clear, he also takes the time to explore the journey of self-discovery in a colonized land.

Makak’s desire to travel to Africa is framed as a pilgrimage, but Walcott wills readers to consider the distance between Makak and the continent. in his journey to Africa, he sacrifices his friendship with Moustique, denouncing its existence, and forming new relationships with Souris and Corporal Lestrade. when Makak mentions Africa in Part Two, Tigre conflates Africa with Monkey Mountain, and the revelation is made that Makak should actually be returning to Monkey Mountain, as that is his home. 

Tigre: I’m a criminal with a gun, in the heart of the forest under Monkey Mountain. And I want his money. 

Makak: Money … That is what you wanted? Thats is what it is all about … money?

Tigre: Shut up! Africa, Monkey Mountain, whatever you want to call it. But you first, father, to where the money buried. Go on. You too, Lestrade. Walk. (303)

there are many gems hidden in this text that can only be discovered through thorough investigation of language.

reading this text required research. there is meaning in the names of the characters, in their descriptions, in the folklore referenced, and in the methodical use of French.

there is so much to unpack.

Walcott suggests that the thoughts presented in this play “[exist] as much in the given minds of its principal characters as in that of its writer.” (208) 
and in doing this, he gives his audience a foundation on which to self assess.

the desire to be exceptional, to save your people, to be the ‘chosen’ Black person, is the result of a colonized mind.

freedom for all cannot be achieved by one.