A social issue present in Monster is abuse. To fully explain why, I have to give a short synopsis of the story.
Monster is the true story of Josef Fritzl. In 1984, Fritzl drugged his daughter Elisabeth and locked her in a soundproof dungeon he had spent years creating. Over the next 24 years, Fritzl would physically and sexually abuse her on a regular basis. Over the course of the 24 years, Fritzl would impregnate Elisabeth 7 times. 3 of the 7 children would not be let out of the cellar Elisabeth was trapped in.
My proof that this exists is a short excerpt from the story:
"...Fritzl asked Elisabeth to go with him into the cellar to 'help me fix something'. This invitation must have been scary, to say the least. She had been abused by him for years and now he wanted her to go to the domain that had always been strictly out of bounds to all - to tenants and family alike." (Hall, 93)
The purpose this social issue serves is the whole basis of the novel. If Fritzl hadn't done what he did, this novel wouldn't exist.
