Analysis of Play Dream on Monkey Mountain

The Quest for Identity in a Post-Colonial World: A Critical Study of Derek Walcott’s Dream on Monkey Mountain

The question of identity has confused the characters of the post-colonial world. The colonial approach inevitably gives rise to the notion of identity. The conflict between colonizers and colonies damaged the cultural and material heritage of the colonies. It also disturbs the mental balance of the colonies. Claims of power are not always forcible and violent but sometimes intervening. As a result of the various techniques of domination, the natives find themselves in an existential crisis and suffer from an identity complex. The work of colonial writers has been to show the effects of different forms of domination. However, authors such as Derek Walcott, Chinua Achebe, and Wole Soyinka not only explore different aspects of the crisis but also boldly try to influence the dominant ones to overcome this colonial legacy.

 “Dream on Monkey Mountain” is a representative of Walcott's drama that depicts the flawless psyche of a black Caribbean living in a world where identity, in Lacanian terms, is forever forbidden. The drama Dream on Monkey Mountain unfolds before our eyes the various effects of a long history of colonial domination. This combination of dream and reality helps Walcott describe the colonial psyche and how to overcome it. In Dream on Monkey Mountain Walcott presents a post-colonial twist to establish an identity for the oppressed. This form of travel is also prevalent

A cursory glance at the story of the play shows that the plot is quite easy to understand. Makak, a charcoal burner, has been arrested and jailed for the mess in the Cafe. In his dream, he sees the form of a white woman who tells him that he is the king of Africa. Towards the end of the play Dream on Monkey Mountain, he realizes that he can't make a name for himself unless he kills the white apparition. As soon as he hits the appearance of a white woman, Makak wakes up and realizes that he has been called his real name.

 The seemingly simple plotline Dream on Monkey Mountain is intertwined with a number of complex key issues related to the issue of identity in a post-colonial world. The initial scene of the play shows the identity crisis as a result of colonial subjugation. When Corporal Lestrade asked Makak about his race, he replied, "I'm tired." This response is a clear indication of his broken identity, which is the result of a long period of subjugation. Makak wants to ignore the question of race because he wants to take refuge in a realm of forgetfulness that can only give him some relief in the midst of a blurred being. Colonialism not only plunders wealth but also deprives the colonies of their true selves. So it's also a messy business. The colonial system has uprooted Makak from any sense of belonging and created a sense of inferiority. It is named after an animal 'Makak' which means Monkey and has been relegated to the rank of Great Chain of Being.

Most notably, Makak has internalized his subordinate’s position and, as a result, tries to hide his identity.  In Dream on Monkey Mountain, the metaphor of blackness has created a world for Makak where being black is a sign of identity lessening. Walcott shows in detail how colonialism has broken Makak's identity. He hates his own image. He tells Lestrade that he has not seen himself in the mirror for thirty years. Also, he refuses to see a picture of himself reflected in the water:

"Not a pool of cold water, when I must drunk, I stir my hands first, to break up my image."

Makak looks at his picture from a white colonizer's point of view.  In fact, a metaphor for the legacy of the colonial subjects who, in Walcott's words, "Look at Life with black skin and blue eyes” victims of conflict of being White in mind and black in the body.

 

Dividing the Manichaean world into black and white reduces the colony to such an extent that it becomes obsessed with white. In the Dream on Monkey Mountain Makak also longs for whiteness. This aspect of psychology is clearly indicated in the epiphany of the play:

"Thus in certain psychoses the hallucinated person, tired of always being insulted by his demon, one fine day starts hearing the voice of an angel who pays him compliments; but jeers don't stop for all that; only, from then on, they alternate with congratulations. This is a defense, but it is also the end of the story. The self is dissociated, and the patient heads for madness".

When Makak was arrested, he was said to have a white mask. A literal symbol of his desire for the West. His quest for identity is aided by the appearance of a white woman who acts as a kind of artistic figure for Makak. Makak is happy with her message, 'she say that I come from the family of lions and kings’. Corporal accurately diagnoses the ailment 'rage for whiteness that does drive niggers mad'. However, it should be noted that Lestrade also suffers from this type of complexity. He is a fake man for whom salvation lies in imitating the white world. This is confirmed by the source in his comments:  I am an instrument of the law, Souris. I got the white man work to do.

His desire represents a departure syndrome that destroys Caribbean society. Thus, Makak and Lestrade are two sides of the same coin. They both deal with their confidence as they choose to embark on their play activities. Walcott not only describes the psychological weakness of the colonies but also confirms the dignity and identity of the colonies through mindlessness. Through a series of different dreams, the playwright shows the way out of the black Caribbean. The vision that Makak has seen helps him to remove the Eurocentric vision that has invaded his inner space. Experiences of insight help him regain his true identity without Western dictation. Makak goes through a complete journey in his dream. He makes his real home in Africa where he becomes the king of his tribe and rules over others. In his dream, he adopts an alternative world where he pulls the earth under his feet. The artificial world of dreams is more important than the real world. In one of the scenes in the first part, Walcott shows Makak in a dream healing the sick with his magical power.

This is the first temporary step he takes to achieve liberation from colonial slavery. He is right in first diagnosing a farmer's mental illness when he says, “Remember, are you all self that is your enemy". In the opening scene of Part Two, we see Makak in his dream, stabbing Corporal Lestrade and then running into the woods with Tiger and Souris. Tiger and Souris join Makak only for personal gain. They want to steal money from Makak and have nothing to do with it. Here Walcott mocks dishonest national leaders who only think of amassing wealth under the guise of massive regeneration. In the case of the jungle, we find an alternative kingdom from black: where traditional Eurocentric principles are hardly found to be correct. Corporal Lestrade also goes through a parallel journey to regain its identity. His confrontation with Basel, helps him regain his lost identity. Lestrade adopted the spirit of denying the identities of whites. His encounter with Basil, a black apparition the concept of which is culled from Haitian mythology helps him regain his lost identity. In Dream of Monkey Mountain Lestrade imbibed the mimetic of the white denying his own identity. The following discussion between Lestrade and Basil plays an important role in exposing the hollowness of this slavish imitation:

Corporal: My mind, my mind. What's happened to my mind?

Basil: It was never yours, Lestrade.

This meeting helps Lestrade regain his lost self, and he begins to stir his emotions. Pleased with his new identity, he makes a speech to the Africa of the brain that signals his self-recovery:

"I kiss your foot, 0 Monkey Mountain. [He removes his clothes] I return to this earth, my mother. Naked, trying very hard not to weep in the dust. I was what I am, but now I am myself. [Rises] Now I feel better".

In the three scenes of the second part Apotheosis Scene, we see the application of anti-colonial ideas. Walcott elaborates on the different cultural practices of the tribal community. Protesting against racist insults against black people, Walcott celebrated colonial ethics. However, it should be noted that precolonial ethics is not described in ideal terms but with its advantages and disadvantages. Walcott describes the sequence as:

"Bronze tropies are lowered. Masks of barbarous gods appear to a clamor of drums, sticks, the chant of a tribal triumph. A procession of warriors, chiefs and the wives of Makak in splendid tribal costumes gather, chanting to drums". Here we find a representative of the European cultural supremacy, appointed by political masters for political reasons, was tried and executed for injustice to humanity. The scene ends with the beheading of a white goddess whose image was so mad at Makak that he forgot his real name and lineage. It is only after beheading a white woman that Makak is finally restored as a man. Makak calls his real name Felix Hobin.

It is true that Walcott is advocating violence to overthrow the colonial government and unite the oppressed. In his The Wretched of the Earth, Fen states:

"At the level of individuals, violence is a cleansing force. It frees the native from his superiority complex and from his despair and inaction; it makes him fearless and restores his self-respect".

To conclude, we can say that Walcott tries to create an alternative world for the black Caribbean in his Dream on Monkey Mountain. A world free from the effects of colonialism. It is true that at the end of the play, Mack is brought back to the real world where nothing changes. But that doesn't mean it's a waste of vision or publicity. This drama gives us a glimpse of the fact that another world is possible and this is a dream purifier, which leads to self-acceptance and psychological perfection. It is only as a result of this Dream that Makak is able to regain his lost identity, which makes him an animal ridiculer to man.