Monkeys in Literature
It’s been quite common to find monkeys in literature for centuries. Their near human characteristics and tendency to exhibit often mischievous, curious and extremely disruptive behaviour has seen these animals regularly turn up in stories, books and poems over the years. In some stories they appear as bit-part characters; in others they are the main characters around which the story revolves.
In some cases monkeys in literature are often portrayed as being evil or bad, at least to start with. In Chinese mythology, for example, Sun Wokung, often known as the Monkey King, ended up allying himself with a range of devils. He caused all kinds of havoc before being imprisoned by Buddha. He did redeem himself later by becoming a disciple of the monk Xuankang and ultimately was awarded Buddahood himself.
Amongst the best known monkeys in literature who got up to no good were the winged monkeys in the Wizard of Oz book and film. These monkeys were controlled by the Wicked Witch of the West and firmly stood on the side of evil in this story. After causing some mayhem and harm to Dorothy and her companions they were released from their bonds to the Wicked Witch in the end by Glinda, the Good Witch of the South and ordered to stop causing harm to people.
One of the best known monkeys in literature in modern times appears in childrens books. Curious George is a monkey that is brought to live in a city from his home in Africa. Displaying all of the monkey’s curious and inquisitive traits, Curious George is a firm favourite for millions of children all over the world who enjoy reading his tales and adventures.
One of the other well known monkeys in literature is Tony Millionaire’s Sock Monkey. This character appears in a series of comic strip like books and has enjoyed a consistent popularity with both kids and adults since the early 2000s. The Sock Monkey of the title is known as Uncle Gabby who, together with his crow friend, Mr Crow, has a series of adventures with Uncle Gabby’s young owner Ann-Louise.
Some monkeys in literature became iconic in book terms after having been created in other media forms. The most obvious example is King Kong. Books were created to help market the original King Kong films and the franchise has since seen many incarnations in literature including books, comic strips and comic novels.