The following contains spoilers for The Monkey, now playing in theatersThe Monkey makes some pretty big changes from the original short story that inspired it, including changing the main villain and why they’re trying to kill Hal. The Monkey focuses on the тιтular cursed object, a seemingly benign drumming monkey toy that causes people to suffer sudden (and often) violent deaths. The Monkey‘s main character is Hal, who encountered the object as a child and now struggles to to stop the curse before it can spread to impact people like his son Petey. Along the way, the darkly comedic horror film leaves a mᴀssive trail of bodies wherever Hal goes.
Every death shown on-screen seems to be connected to the Monkey. However, the cursed object never actually lashes out or kills someone directly. This makes the object appear malevolent and horrifying, but without an agency that could define it as a true villain. Instead, the primary antagonist of Osgood Perkin’s The Monkey ends up being someone who was once close to Hal and has developed a desire to kill him. This gives the film a clear antagonist to throw against Hal, as well as a means of exploring the consequences of obsession and trying to use death as a tool.
Bill Is The Real Villain In The Monkey
Bill’s Drive To Find The Cursed Object Drive The Plot Of The Monkey
Despite only being a minor character in Stephen King’s original short story of the same name, Bill Shelburn is the main villain of The Monkey and the cause of a lot of death in the film. Introduced alongside his brother Hal as children, Bill is the more outgoing but cruel of the brothers. This hasn’t changed by adulthood, with the modern-day version of the character introduced halfway through The Monkey as a blunt man. Obsessed with the Monkey after his experiences with it as a child, Bill is the one who lures Hal back to town after the Monkey returns.
Bill drives most of the plot of The Monkey‘s second half. His desperation to find the Monkey leads him to hire Ricky, entangling the troubled young man into the fatal circumstances surrounding the cursed object. When he recovers the cursed Monkey, his repeated use of it gets countless innocent people killed around the town. All of it initially seems to be in reverence to the Monkey, but ultimately proves to be a furious drive to use its power for himself. This hubris is ultimately his downfall, as the Monkey eventually claims his life just as he’s made peace with Hal.
Why Bill Wants To Kill Hal In The Monkey
Bill Hates Hal For His Unintended Role In Their Mother’s Death
Despite being brothers, Bill and Hal have a very bad relationship as children and are estranged by the main events of The Monkey. When they were younger, Bill was casually mean to his brother, frequently mocking him and prompting other bullies from the school to pick on him. This caused a young Bill to occasionally fantasize about actually killing his brother, and once even turn the key of the Monkey in hopes it would slay him. However, it was their mother who died instead. The eventual realization that Hal had turned the key and gotten their mother killed enraged Bill.
This is what started Bill’s obsession with the Monkey, as he wanted to rediscover it and use it to enact vengeance on Hal. This obsession drove Bill for his entire life, ultimately driving an even greater wedge between them. As Hal notes when Bill calls him, it’s been years since they’ve spoken, let alone seen one another. Hal’s son Petey has no idea that Bill even exists. This distance festered into hatred over time. Although both brothers were isolated as a result of their trauma over the experience with the Monkey, Bill’s desire to kill Hal fully dominated his life.
Why The Monkey Kills Bill In The End
The Monkey Is About How Cost Of Trying To Control Death
The Monkey is ultimately about the inescapable nature of death and the inherent fallacy of trying to control it. While Hal is horrified by what has transpired and never wants to use the Monkey again, Bill only briefly agrees with him that the Monkey has to be hidden. Bill spends most of the film trying to recover the Monkey. Once he has gotten the Monkey, Bill repeatedly prays to the Monkey and turns the key to kill Hal. When his faith isn’t rewarded with results, Bill tries to force the Monkey to bang the cymbal so it can slay Hal.
It’s implied that the Monkey took one last autonomous drum beat to kill Bill exactly because he had been trying to control it.
This effort to control death gets countless innocents around the nearby town killed. The Monkey is, as it says on the box, “like life.” Death isn’t something to be controlled or used for personal vendetta. While it may be a source of death and twists the world to lethal results, the Monkey itself seems to be a force of nature. It’s implied that the Monkey took one last autonomous drum beat to kill Bill exactly because he had been trying to control it. Alternatively, the Monkey simply decided it wanted one more kill and took the opportunity to slay Bill.
How Bill’s Villain Twist Compares To The Monkey’s Book
Bill Isn’t That Important Of A Character In The Monkey
Bill is the main villain of The Monkey, which is a serious divergence from his role in the original story. In The Monkey short story by Stephen King, Bill and Hal are brothers, but not twins. While they bicker, they aren’t nearly as vicious towards one another as they are in the film. Bill never becomes a reverent follower of the Monkey. After their traumatic childhoods and being raised by their Aunt and Uncle, Bill made a happy life for himself. It’s established in the short story that Bill lives a nice life, having gotten married and become a lawyer.
Published in 1980, Stephen King’s The Monkey was later re-released as part of Skeleton Crew.
Bill isn’t involved in the monkey’s disappearance, and Ricky is an invention of the film as a result. Bill’s role in the story radically changes the plot of The Monkey. Without him, the film’s version of the narrative may not have ever set off. If Ricky kept the Monkey, he wouldn’t have had the key that Bill used to bring back the curse. Bill’s desire for revenge against Hal and reverence for the Monkey’s lethal powers leads to a slew of brutal demises throughout the film, elevating him beyond the тιтular cursed object to be The Monkey‘s true villainous threat.
