Comparing Monk and Gilgamesh
Skyler Peterson
The Epic of Gilgamesh and Monk may seem incomparable. One is a story of a strong, heroic, demigod, slaying beasts and the other, a cowardly, germaphobe, cursed with a broken heart, that solves crimes. Despite all that, Gilgamesh and Monk share similar plots and characters while differing in their conflicts.
Dreams are a common theme in both texts. On the way to slay Humbaba, Gilgamesh constantly has dreams of the fight ahead. Enkidu interprets them and they serve as useful insights into the future. Gilgamesh says, “... I have had a dream, a horrible dream. We were walking in a gorge, and when I looked up, a huge mountain loomed, so huge that we were as small as flies. Then the mountain fell down on top of us. Dear friend, tell me, what does this mean?”(p. 106) Enkidu then interprets the dream and convinces him that it is a good dream. In Monk, when he really needs guidance and tries to sleep, his late wife comes to him in his dreams. She gives him guidance and reassurance to get him back on his feet. In both stories, dreams have a powerful and very real effect on the real world. Speaking of Monk’s late wife, dead characters are a theme in both stories.
Both characters lose someone very important to them. Gilgamesh loses Enkidu after he is cursed by Humbaba and later angers the gods by killing the Bull of Heaven. Mitchell interprets, “... May Enkidu die, may he die in great pain, may Gilgamesh be inconsolable… ”(p. 127) In Monk, his wife, Trudi, is killed with a car bomb and Monk goes into a depressive state for months. He is never the same after, similar to Gilgamesh who is cursed with being inconsolable. While Gilgamesh and Monk may have a lot in common, their conflicts, for the most part, are wildly different.
Gilgamesh and Monk’s conflicts are like day and night. Gilgamesh normally finds or is presented with a fearsome beast like Humbaba or The Bull of Heaven to defeat. Mitchell translates, “Gilgamesh said, ‘Now we must travel to the Cedar Forest, where the fierce monster Humbaba lives. We must kill him and drive out evil from the world.’” However, in Monk, the conflict is he has to figure out who committed a crime and prove it. One of Monk’s biggest problems is himself. He has compulsions that can get him into trouble. Monk also struggles emotionally, he is often left out like in “Mr. Monk and the TV Star” and occasionally manipulated like in “Mr. Monk Makes a Friend.” Gilgamesh slays beasts while Monk solves crimes and deals with himself. If you think about it, both characters cause their problems. Gilgamesh looks for trouble and Monk is his problem.
Each text while seeming completely different from each other from afar becomes more and more similar as you look closer. The dream sequences serve the same purposes. Both characters share similar stories of loss. However, they still differ in conflicts. While it’s unlikely The Epic of Gilgamesh directly influenced Monk, there is a good chance that it indirectly affected it.
