Monument 14

The novel sets up an image system of transgressing physical boundaries. A prominent image is the fist violating another person’s body. Physical violence abounds in the novel and starts with Dean attacking Alex after being exposed to the chemicals. Physical fights between the boys continue and culminate in Jake attacking Dean while the boys drink. These images point back to the theme of social hierarchies and masculine expressions of dominance. The one who is the strongest remains dominant. When Dean attacks Brayden, he is symbolically vying for Brayden’s status within the group. The image of the fist repeats and heightens itself with the gun, which is the ultimate expression of dominance. It has the ability to severely impair or even take a life, as it does with Robbie’s. Robbie’s power is irrevocably removed by the gun in Josie’s hands. The gun also functions as a phallic symbol, relating back to male aggression.

So, too, does the author continue the imagery of boundaries transgressed with unwanted touch. Batiste hugs Chloe; she insists that he shouldn’t do so. Batiste says, “Hugging is not a sin!” but Chloe asserts, “It is too, if the girl getting hugged doesn’t want it!” (71). Robbie physically violates Sahalia, and the students see that she is, “crying and basically naked […] [s]he sat on the floor, clutching her nightgown to her chest” (241). Unwanted physical touch is yet another expression of male dominance. When a man touches a female when she does not feel comfortable, he expresses the fact that he has power over her and does not respect her boundaries.