Themes and message

The main themes of the short story “Monster under the Bed” by Lezanne Clannachan are fear and family relationships (the way parents influence their children). The author’s message is that parents’ problems (in this case mental illness) inevitably influence their children.

The story’s themes and message are enhanced through the motifs of confinement and strangers. In the story, fear of the outside confines Eddie’s mother to the house. But the mother’s condition also restricts Eddie’s freedom and leads to social isolation. The strangers he meets in the train station—the homeless man and Angie—help Eddie reflect on his relationship with his mother and to open up about his problems.

Fear

The theme of fear is explored in the short story through most of the characters and is summarised by Eddie towards the end of the text:

‘Have you noticed how scared everyone is?’ Eddie says. ‘Some homeless man thinks I’m going to take his dog. You’re worried I won’t get on the train. My mum’s terrified of her own life.’ And he, himself, maybe most of all; scared of becoming scared. (ll. 167-170)

However, until this point, the theme of fear is explored gradually and by showing its different facets. Initially, the homeless man whom Eddie meets in the train station fears that Eddie might take his dog and reacts aggressively: “ ‘Get off my dog,’ the man says. He won’t meet Eddie’s eye, but his face is all creased up with anger. ‘You leave my dog alone.’ ” (ll. 16-17)

This is probably because the animal was everything the man owned and because of his mistrust in people. He illustrates the way fear can make people aggressive.

Then the story reveals that Eddie fears getting home late and disappointing his mother because he could not find a particular brand of cakes:

...

Family relationships

Another theme that the author explores in this short story is that of family relationships. The story focuses on mother-child relationships but also touches upon relationships between siblings.

The most important parent-child relationship in the short story is that between Eddie and his mother. Because of his mother’s illness the roles in their family change. When Eddie was little, his mother used to comfort him about the monster under the bed and used to teach him good manners. Now, it is Eddie who is taking on the role of the parent for his mother; he takes care of her everyday needs because the woman’s agoraphobia (fear of going outside) and possibly depression has made her unable to leave her house.

Their relationship illustrates how a parent’s illness influences the child. Because he has to take care of his mother, Eddie is deprived of his teenage years: he cannot travel, go to football practice or even maintain his relationship with his girlfriend.

...