The Yew Tree In Patrick Ness A Monster Calls

Things are not always what they appear to be. In A Monster Calls, by Patrick Ness, this could not be more true. Conor O’Malley lived with his mother in a small house with a giant yew tree in his yard. His mother was ill, his father was in America, and he felt a deep, empty hole in his chest. Every night Conor awakes with fright from the nightmare. Though one night, after awaking, the yew tree near his home breaks away from his roots to visit him. The yew tree claims that Conor had called him. The tree said he would tell Conor three stories then Conor would tell him a story of his own. The first story was about a devious woman that would fall from royalty. This was the time Conor realized not everything had a black and white ending. …show more content…
A queen had been accused, by her step-grandson, that she murdered his beloved with a dagger. This happened after the queen had intended to marry the young prince to stay in power and keep the royal bloodline pure. The young king intended to run away with his lover to a nearby kingdom to hide until he took the throne. When the prince accused the queen, there was already a rumor going around that she was a witch, so she was then brought out to burn on the stake without hesitation. "Good she deserved it," Conor said. The tree had merely smirked. This suggests to the reader that this tale doesn't have a black and white ending. On the other hand, readers may think the tree had smiled in approval, and would uproot itself to deliver the punishment to the queen himself. The tree had risen from the ground, scooped up the queen, and then took her to a town where she lived in peace. "But she murdered the farmer's daughter! . . . You really are a monster." Conor didn't know the full story. As a result, Conor assumed that the queen was the murderer, and was angry that the tree had helped her. In the back of his mind he related to the prince, because of his own situation with his own grandmother. Though he didn’t want her dead, he still wanted her gone. At the end of the story, it was revealed that the prince had been the one who had killed the farmer’s daughter. Conor was enraged due to the ending of the story. "I …show more content…
However, the treatment was a last resort. "Well, sweetheart, a couple of different things they've tried haven't worked like they wanted them to. And they've not worked a lot sooner than they were hoping they wouldn't. If that makes any sense. . . Things are going a little faster than I'd hope, sweetheart. . . . There's one more thing they're going to try, a medicine that's had some good results." She was strong, and most likely, all the readers realize that she wouldn't survive. However, Conor's mother always had hope, and she kept smiling to rid the worry from Conor. This shows how much she keeps hidden just for Conor to be happy. Imagine, a close relative or friend withholding something important, like a wedding, from you on purpose. If being left out of a wedding hurts, then being left in the dark about your own mother's poor health, would be like a stab through the heart. "I read about it [yew trees] way back, when this all started. I mean I hoped it would never get this far, but it just seemed incredible that all that time we could see a yew tree from our own house. And that very tree could be the thing that healed me." She had hope she would survive for Conor. On the other hand, Conor himself just wanted her pain to end, but not let her go. Either she be healed or be freed from the pain by death. This demonstrates how Conor knows, no matter how much he wishes the opposite, his