Welcome to the Monkey House

Content Warning: The story discusses suicide and contains depictions of rape and group violence against a single person.

Colors act as symbols of loss throughout “Welcome to the Monkey House.” Purple is meant to be a color of vitality and wealth, and yet the purple roofs of the suicide parlors and purple stockings of the suicide nurses represent the loss of natural death and respect for life. White is a color of purity, which is likely why the suicide hostesses wear white lipstick, and yet the white creates a porcelain doll appearance, indicating the loss of comfort in death, highlighted by the bloodless sexuality of the hostesses. The removal of the makeup during the bathing ritual, too, is symbolic of rebirth. Green is a color of life and health, and yet the Barcaloungers the suicide parlor patrons die on are green and the room they die in is “lemon-yellow” (34). Their last meal comes from beneath an “orange roof” (34). Ironically, yellow and orange are generally cheerful colors, and the word lemon indicates freshness and life. Blue, as a color, often represents freedom, and yet the blue pills that eliminate freedom create blue urine, indicating that even bodily fluids are no longer natural in this world.