Remember The Monster at the End of This Book? Grover invites us not to turn pages. He begs! He pleads!
But... what if Grover isn't the *only* monster?
The Real Culprit: An Unpopular Opinion
I'm just going to say it. The *real* monster is the author. And maybe... us?
Think about it. Grover is just living his best, fluffy life. Suddenly, some dude (or dudette!) writes a book about him. A book designed to terrify him!
The Author: Master Manipulator
The author is like a puppeteer. A mischievous puppeteer. They're preying on Grover's insecurities for our entertainment.
They know Grover is scared of monsters. They *create* the monster narrative. They even use Grover's own fear against him!
Talk about gaslighting! Poor Grover.
We're Complicit!
Okay, okay, maybe the author isn't *solely* to blame. We, the readers, are also part of the problem.
We keep turning the pages! We *want* to see the monster! We ignore Grover's increasingly desperate pleas.
We're basically monster movie fans, cheering on the carnage. But the carnage is Grover's emotional breakdown!
Isn't that kind of...mean?
Consider the Evidence
Grover builds a brick wall. He ties pages together. He practically begs us to stop!
Does anyone listen? Nope. We bulldoze through his defenses with the relentless force of a toddler demanding a snack.
And for what? To find out he was the monster all along? That's a twist, sure. But it's a twist at Grover's expense!
He's Just Trying to Protect Himself
Imagine someone wrote a book about *your* deepest fear. And then, hordes of people gleefully forced you to confront it, page by page.
You'd be bricking up walls too! You'd be tying pages together with industrial-strength twine!
You'd probably move to a remote island with no bookstores. Just saying.
The Verdict: Shared Monsterhood
So, my verdict? The monster at the end of the book isn't just Grover. It's the author, gleefully exploiting a fuzzy Muppet's anxiety.
And it's us, the readers, who enable the whole thing with our insatiable curiosity.
Maybe next time, we should listen to Grover. Maybe we should just... close the book.
A Call to Action (Sort Of)
I'm not saying we should ban the book. It's a classic! It's funny!
But maybe, just maybe, we can read it with a little more empathy. A little more awareness of our own role in Grover's fictional suffering.
After all, isn't kindness the opposite of being a monster? Let's be kind to Grover, even if he *is* technically the monster at the end of the book. Or is he?
