Genre
Autobiographical novel
Setting and Context
The novel is set partly in Mexico and partly in Brooklyn, New York
Narrator and Point of View
The novel is told from the perspective of the eponymous Monkey boy.
Tone and Mood
Negative, solemn, humiliating, rebellious, energetic, intense, and endearing.
Protagonist and Antagonist
The eponymous "monkey boy" is the protagonist of the novel; the girls and boys that attack him is the antagonist of the novel.
Major Conflict
The "monkey boy" struggles to fit in while enduring abuse from a number of people in his life.
Climax
When Francisco stops getting made fun of and decides to change his life once and for all.
Foreshadowing
The death of Francisco's father is foreshadowed quite early in the novel.
Understatement
The extent that Francisco's parents struggle after immigrating to the U.S. is understated throughout the novel.
Allusions
There are allusions in the novel to the history and culture of the United States (mainly New York) and Mexico, the geography of the U.S. and Mexico, other popular culture, Catholicism, and the immigrant's experience.
Imagery
As Francisco contends with increasing abuse from the people around him, depressing imagery becomes more common.
Paradox
Bert was incredibly abusive, but also very "endearing" according to Francisco.
Parallelism
N/A
Metonymy and Synecdoche
"The big apple" is used to refer to New York City.
Personification
New York City itself is personified frequently in the novel.
