From the earliest moments of A Monster Calls, Conor’s nightmare is the most explicit symbol in the novel. On the surface, it involves a giant monster who pulls his mother over the edge of a cliff into an abyss while Conor desperately holds her hands to keep her from falling. When Conor finds the weight too much to bear, he loosens his grip and allows his mother to plummet into the depths.

Discuss and unpack the layers of meaning in Conor’s nightmare. In what ways does the nightmare serve as a metaphor in the early sections of the novel? By the end, how does the meaning of the nightmare change for Conor? How does the monster ultimately use it to teach Conor a larger lesson about shame?

Teaching Suggestion: Conor’s nightmare is a metaphor for his mother’s fight with cancer, and the monster from his nightmare is the personification of her illness. Conor can’t fight the monster as it struggles to pull his mother down into the abyss, which represents death. Conor’s grip holding his mother signifies his efforts to keep her alive and his refusal to give up on her. Conor’s big secret, however, is that he intentionally lets his mother go in the end.