Photo credit, property of Little Golden Books, fair use
One of my favorite books from childhood was The Monster at the End of This Book: Starring Lovable, Furry Old Grover (or simply The Monster at the End of This Book). It featured Grover, a Muppet of Sesame Street fame, who was a blue monster.
Describing the plot, one source states:
Having read the book’s title, Grover is horrified to learn that there is a monster at the end of the book. He immediately begs the reader not to finish the book so as to avoid encountering the monster. As the book continues, Grover constructs a series of obstacles in hopes of preventing the reader from reading further, but none of them work (mostly because they are merely illustrations, not actual obstacles).
Near the end of the book, Grover makes one last frantic plea not to turn the final page, only to discover on that page, in a surprise self-referential plot twist, that the monster is himself. He laughs and claims that he knew it all along, but the reader can see that he is quite embarrassed by the whole ordeal.
For those who are interested, an online page-by-page flip-version of the book may be accessed by this source. Additionally, an online video version of the book may be accessed by this source.
What I recall about my naïve understanding of the book as a child was that I thought Grover was silly, because he was the comical monster about whom the Muppet was afraid. In particular, I laughed loudly when adults read the book using distressed speech patterns.
For instance, Grover pled with the reader not to turn the page, as he was clearly terrified of inevitably discovering what was presumably a scary, horrible, monstrous being. Who knew what would happen once the Muppet discovered it was himself about whom he was afraid?
Then, when an adult turned the page and read out in an exaggerated fashion, “YOU TURNED THE PAGE!” I’d erupt into laughter. My reaction wasn’t because I was a sadistic child who wanted Grover to needlessly suffer.
Rather, I understood that there truly wasn’t anything to fear. Grover was little more than a goofy blue monster who lacked insight and I was delighted to discover how he would react when facing his fears. No matter how many times I heard the story, it brought me joy.
When reflecting upon The Monster at the End of This Book through the lens of Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT), I appreciate the level of suspense, expression of anticipation, and demonstration of self-disturbance illustrated through use of irrational beliefs.
In particular, there are four predominate irrational beliefs which people often use: demandingness, awfulizing, low frustration tolerance, and global evaluations. To demonstrate these unproductive assumptions, consider the following examples:
Demandingness – Under absolutely no circumstances should you turn the page of The Monster at the End of This Book.
Awfulizing – It would terrible, horrible, and awful for you to bring Grover face to face with a ghastly monster!
Low frustration tolerance – Grover couldn’t stand the experience of confronting something about which he’s afraid.
Global evaluation – Everyone knows that all monsters are no good, low down, despicable beings!
Sometimes irrational beliefs of this sort are maintained independent of one another. However, to use as much hyperbole as Grover does in The Monster at the End of This Book, consider what happens when these unhelpful assumptions are used in tandem:
Under absolutely no circumstances should you turn the page of The Monster at the End of This Book, because it would terrible, horrible, and awful for you to bring Grover face to face with a ghastly monster! In fact, Grover couldn’t stand the experience of confronting something about which he’s afraid, because everyone knows that all monsters are no good, low down, despicable beings!
While The Monster at the End of This Book was a source of joy in my childhood, in adulthood I recognize how irrational beliefs serve as the cause of suffering throughout one’s lifetime. From this REBT perspective, people upset themselves with unfavorable beliefs – and do so quite often.
For instance, in my psychotherapeutic role I’ve worked with people in regard to a supposed fear of public speaking, fear of rejection, fear of failure, fear of death, and other perceived fears. However, that fear doesn’t stem from things such as rejection or death.
Rather, what people – or even zany blue monsters – fear stems from beliefs about matters or events such as public speaking, failure, or turning the pages of a book. In essence, Grover wasn’t afraid of himself as the monster that he actually was, he was terrified by his beliefs of self-discovery.
In reality, we create our own monsters, demons, devils, or other frightening beings through use of unpleasant assumptions. Yet in actuality, we are little more than fallible human beings who scare ourselves.
When further contemplating this matter, I consider the guidance of Pema Chödrön from her book When Things Fall Apart: Heart Advice for Difficult Times. In the book, the Tibetan Buddhist nun states:
We do the big escape: we act out, say something, slam a door, hit someone, or throw a pot as a way of not facing what’s happening in our hearts. Or we shove the feelings under and somehow deaden the pain. We can spend our whole lives escaping from the monsters of our minds.
The one caveat I’d add to Chödrön’s perspective is that through escapism, we can spend our entire lives trying to evade the monsters of our minds. However, no matter where we go, there we are. Where we go, our monsters go. When we use unhelpful beliefs, our monsters manifest.
Therefore, when using REBT in my personal life and practicing this helpful psychotherapeutic modality with individuals in my professional life, I welcome the act of tolerating and accepting undesirability. Regarding this matter, Chödrön further states:
We can stop struggling with what occurs and see its true face without calling it the enemy. It helps to remember that our practice is not about accomplishing anything—not about winning or losing—but about ceasing to struggle and relaxing as it is […] It’s like inviting what scares us to introduce itself and hang around for a while […] We start by working with the monsters in our mind. Then we develop the wisdom and compassion to communicate sanely with the threats and fears of our daily life.
We don’t have to grapple with monsters which we think await us at the end of a book. Moreover, we don’t have to label that which we fear as an enemy or monster. In fact, the function of life doesn’t have to be about winning or losing in a self-created struggle against monsters in the first place.
Rather, we can introduce ourselves to the beliefs which spawn our proverbial monsters. Grover could instead eagerly invite the reader to flip through pages so that he could familiarize himself with whatever awaited him at the end of the book. You, too, can do the same.
This practice begins with encountering our beliefs – the monsters within our mind – and communicating rationally, which is to say with logic and reason. Chödrön advocates doing so with compassion. I add that rational compassion and unconditional acceptance are necessary.
To be clear, I’m not demonizing emotions (no pun intended). Emotions aren’t bad. Grover’s fear wasn’t monstrous. To emote is to function as a fallible human being. Here, “fallible” merely alludes to our imperfection and not some form of villainy.
Nevertheless, when Grover was terrified by his beliefs about page-turning, or when you experience debilitating fear when contemplating your inevitable death which you know is coming at the end of your book, this is where I draw a distinction between healthy and unhealthy negative emotions.
The monster at the end of a book isn’t bad, though our beliefs about uncertainty, rejection, death, or other perceived enemies are what may lead to unhealthy outcomes. Therefore, in the interest of fostering high frustration tolerance, I invite you to go ahead and turn the page.
I encourage you to familiarize yourself with your assumptions – especially those of an unpleasant variety. Perhaps show yourself that although you may not like or love something, you can have rational compassion with yourself and others enough to endure undesirability.
This is the practice of REBT. This is a method to reducing self-disturbance. This is how to receive monsters at the end of a book in a manner that leads to wisdom and compassion. If you’d like to know more about how this is accomplished, I look forward to hearing from you.
If you’re looking for a provider who works to help you understand how thinking impacts physical, mental, emotional, and behavioral elements of your life—helping you to sharpen your critical thinking skills, I invite you to reach out today by using the contact widget on my website.
As a psychotherapist, I’m pleased to help people with an assortment of issues ranging from anger (hostility, rage, and aggression) to relational issues, adjustment matters, trauma experience, justice involvement, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, anxiety and depression, and other mood or personality-related matters.
At Hollings Therapy, LLC, serving all of Texas, I aim to treat clients with dignity and respect while offering a multi-lensed approach to the practice of psychotherapy and life coaching. My mission includes: Prioritizing the cognitive and emotive needs of clients, an overall reduction in client suffering, and supporting sustainable growth for the clients I serve. Rather than simply helping you to feel better, I want to help you get better!
Deric Hollings, LPC, LCSW
References:
Chödrön, P. (1997). When things fall apart: Heart advice for difficult times. Shambhala Publications, Inc. Retrieved from https://www.pdfdrive.com/when-things-fall-apart-heart-advice-for-difficult-times-d188151265.html
DaProblemSolva. (2023). This is the only book leftover from my childhood. Now I read it to my kids in Grover’s voice just like my mom did for me [Image]. Reddit. Retrieved from https://www.reddit.com/r/daddit/comments/174jsbu/this_is_the_only_book_leftover_from_my_childhood/
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