“To Help a Monkey Cross the River” by Thomas Lux at first read seems to just be about saving wild animals from predators. If the reader interprets the poem literally, it would be about a person who is trying to help save a monkey by scaring off the predators without directly harming the predators. Another way the reader can interpret this poem is that it is not actually about animals at all, but the animals are symbols for people. Either way this poem is about helping those who are in danger. In “To Help a Monkey Cross the River, Thomas Lux uses metaphors and symbols to explain to the audience that people need to help each other if they see that others are in trouble or are in danger.
Lux begins the poem by explaining what it is that the monkey is trying to do: “Which he must / cross, by swimming, for fruits and nuts” (1-2). It is obvious that the monkey is trying to find food, which he must do so by crossing a river. The first two lines of the poem is a metaphor that compares a monkey trying to eat to a person that is just simply trying to live his or her life. Lines 4-6 read, “to help him / I sit with my rifle on a platform / high in…show more content… Also, the speaker aims the rifle at the water near the monkey rather than at the predators. Lux included this detail for a reason; the message is that hurting the ones who hurt others is not the solution, if that were to happen, the speaker in this poem would be no better than the bullies. Lines 22-23 read, “Shoot the snake, the crocodile? / They’re just doing their jobs”. In the literal interpretation, the snake and the crocodile would just be doing their jobs; they are trying to survive by eating food. However, for a different interpretation, the tormentor is just doing what they want to do and are not worrying about anyone but
