The Last Kids on Earth and the Monster Dimension

“It’s every human’s favorite time-passing activity: RUNNING THE MILE WHILE A DISAPPOINTED GYM TEACHER YELLS AT YOU!”

This quote comes from Johnny Steve, one of Jack’s monster companions who tries to keep the monsters aboard the Mallusk distracted in the face of great danger. Johnny Steve humorously describes a human activity in very literal terms, misunderstanding the experience of running a mile in gym class, which the novel assumes most readers find unpleasant. This type of humor occurs throughout the novel to highlight the humorous miscommunications between humans and monsters.

“I’ve learned the hard way that you gotta share the nervous, lousy thoughts that fill your brain. It’s like having a crazed puppy in your house. You might not want to take that pup on five walks a day—but if it stays cooped up inside, it’s gonna tear up your favorite sneakers.”

In this quote, Jack emphasizes the importance of sharing his inner anxieties, using one of his signature similes to connect anxiety to the chaotic energy of a restless puppy. By acknowledging his own struggles with The Destructive Power of Self-Doubt, he reveals a growing understanding that isolation amplifies negativity, while expressing vulnerability can prevent self-destructive tendencies. Despite this self-knowledge, he struggles to take his own advice, and this struggle is one of the main elements of Jack’s character arc throughout the novel.

“Endless family reunions and happy tears. That’s what everybody wants. What everyone deserves. But where does that leave me?”

This line signifies Jack’s underlying fear that he will not have a place in the world even if he successfully vanquishes Ŗeżżőcħ. The sentence fragments create syntactical separations between Jack himself and the concept of family, illustrating the gap that he feels between himself and others. The grammatical construction implies that while everybody wants family reunions, and Jack knows that these reunions would be the right outcome, he also recognizes the uncertainty of his own relationships in such a future.

“We speed through towns and cities that are nearly unrecognizable. Monstrous vines rope around houses, dragging them into the ground. Streets are smashed. Bridges have buckled.”

This quote uses vivid imagery to describe a familiar world transformed into a nightmarish landscape, illustrating the physical devastation of the monster apocalypse. The monstrous vines and ruined infrastructure suggest an environment overtaken by chaos, erasing the sense of safety and normalcy that the characters experienced before the apocalypse. The alliteration creates a sense of repetition, implying that these images of devastation repeat over and over.

“And I realize…it’s happening. Right now. The Tower is powering on.”

This quote comes from the moment when Jack realizes that Thrull has successfully powered on the Tower, indicating that Jack truly has failed to stop Thrull. The ellipses and fragments create a sense of immediacy and panic, mimicking the way Jack’s thoughts flow in real time as each part of the Tower powers up and reality sets in.

“This is like someone yanked a zipper and ripped down the fly that separates our two worlds.”

This simile conveys the sudden breakdown of the barrier between the human and monster worlds, likening it to the surprising exposure of something meant to stay hidden. By describing the separation as a “fly” that’s been ripped open, the quote emphasizes the unsettling nature of these dimensions colliding while also using humorous, accessible imagery.

“A-yup. She knows all the stuff. That’s her thing. You know, like how your thing is crushing on June but never telling her.”

This humorous line of dialogue comes from Globlet, showing her casual and colloquial language as she bluntly points out subtext that Jack would rather keep hidden. This line emphasizes the way Globlet and other monsters sometimes accidentally transgress human social conventions to humorous effect.

“But if every part of me is in pieces, how am I even thinking right now? How am I conscious? Am I conscious? WHAT DOES ALL OF THIS MEAN.”

This quote captures Jack’s self-doubt as he crashes through the dimensions and struggles to make sense of the world. His desperation and existential questioning reflect the toll that the apocalypse and his powers have taken on his mind, as he struggles to reconcile his humanity with extraordinary supernatural circumstances.

“‘You considered my offer,’ Wracksaw says. ‘You should have accepted. Because now you have no choice: I will remove that foul appendage. I will not be gentle. And I think I’ll make a few alterations while I’m at it.’”

In this quote, Wracksaw uses intentionally intimidating language to threaten Jack and highlight the differences between their worldviews. While Jack tries to barter with Wracksaw, Wracksaw makes definitive commands, creating a sense of opposition between the “I” statements and “you” statements and dismissing Jack’s subjectivity and autonomy.

“And they were rocketed upward, brain-rattlingly hard. It’s like we’re riding the Tower of Terror in reverse—and the brakes just exploded.”

This simile describes the physical experience of blasting through the monster dimension and experiencing the altered rules of physics. Jack again turns to a simile reminiscent of his previous human life. It is ironic that the ride, which was meant to be recreational and fun, was called the “Tower of Terror,” while Jack now experiences similar mechanics but with a sense of genuine terror.

“What a startling variety of vessels!”

This line comes from Quint as he marvels at the monster vehicles that gather at the port. The humorously erudite language and alliteration are characteristic of Quint, illustrating both his intelligence and his analytical approach to life. He is unfazed by the monstrous nature of what he sees and instead is intrigued by the biodiversity.

“They ride beasts, nightmarish mash-ups of machinery and musculature.”

This line comes from Jack’s description of the enforcers that appear on the horizon, whose monstrous physiques coincide with the threatening power of machinery. The machine imagery invokes weaponry and gives them a sense of robot-like inhumanity, while the musculature emphasizes their strength. Brallier uses this “nightmarish” imagery to illustrate the frightening and intimidating scope of the challenge of escaping the enforcers.

“I’ve never driven a hand-taxi. I’ve never driven in this dimension. And I’ve definitely never driven a hand-taxi in this dimension. In fact, I’m thirteen years old—I’m not supposed to be driving anything anywhere!”

This line speaks to Jack’s self-doubt as he briefly gets flustered and steps back, recognizing how absurd and extreme his experiences have been. By stressing that he isn’t “supposed” to be driving, Jack compares himself to the imagined ordinary version of his life, creating a wistful undertone as he reflects on the teen experience he hasn’t been able to have. The juxtaposition between Jack’s current reality and his imagined “normal” reality emphasizes both his disorientation and his lack of experience.

“I never gave a ton of thought to what happened to this dimension when Ŗeżżőcħ awoke. I know lots of monsters were ripped from this world and flung into ours. But I now realize Ŗeżżőcħ unleaded a lot of havoc here, too.”

This quote highlights Jack’s empathy as he recognizes the similarities between the human world and the monster world. Not only does he recognize how the monsters must have felt, but he also has the self-awareness to notice how little he thought of the monsters’ perspective before. This moment represents Jack’s growing maturity, particularly regarding Empathy in the Face of Conflict.

“It’s like an endless string of strange sleepovers. My favorite, though, was the first night after Quint and I reunited. Forty-three days after the Monster Apocalypse began.”

This quote calls back to Jack first connecting with Quint after the apocalypse. He views this night nostalgically, ironically describing it in casual terms as if it were an ordinary sleepover, when it actually signified the end of the world. The subtext is that Jack already feels nostalgic about that earlier adventure and, in some ways, prefers it to the isolated life he led before the monster apocalypse.

“You talk in your sleep. Lots of stuff about Pop-Tarts, cheat codes, and June—”

This humorous observation from Globlet again relies on Globlet’s social bluntness to call out Jack’s subconscious desires. The Pop-Tarts represent his basic desires and his yearning for the kind of ordinary treats he used to have in the old world. The cheat codes connect the adventure to video or computer games, indicating Jack’s desire to find a metaphorical cheat code to help him face the seemingly insurmountable boss battles ahead. Jack cuts Globlet off before she can call more attention to his unaddressed crush on June.

“Jack! This is new information! We know the zombie plague came from this dimension, but we’ve only witnessed its effect on humans. We’ve never seen a zombified monster.”

This quote from Quint signifies a turning point in the narrative when Jack first connects with Stargrove and makes a major stride in his effort to master his powers. Previously, monsters and zombies represented two separate types of antagonists; now that they combine into zombified monsters, there is a possibility that they can become allies. Instead of making them more antagonistic, hybridity becomes a way for Jack to connect with them. This develops the theme of The Contrast Between Humanity and Monstrousness both literally (by facilitating alliance) and figuratively (by emphasizing commonality—hybridity—rather than difference).

“Suddenly, I see hundreds of doodles. Thousands! Like a spinning kaleidoscope of emotions and actions.”

This quote comes from Jack’s description of Stargrove’s mind and highlights how Jack’s power expands his empathy. Just moments before, Stargrove was a monster zombie who seemed intent on destroying Jack. He describes her mind in distinctly colorful, playful terms, emphasizing the full emotional range that she experiences and the depth of her humanity.

“You’ll catch a glimpse of never-ending despair. Don’t worry if you miss it, you’ll have plenty more opportunities to glimpse never-ending despair. That’s what most of my dimension is now. Never-ending despair.”

This quote shows Globlet at an unusually somber moment as she describes the dark reality of her world. The repetition of “never-ending despair” mirrors the infinite nature of the destruction and the hopelessness that Globlet feels underneath her humorous affect. Because Globlet is usually such an unrelentingly positive and funny character, her observation has greater impact.

“I don’t like this. It’s not helping anything. It makes me uneasy to learn that Thrull fought the same type of creature that I did. I don’t want to have anything in common with Thrull.”

This line highlights Jack’s discomfort when he discovers how similar his story is to Thrull’s. It speaks directly to Jack’s fear that he could lose control of his principles and turn into a dark version of himself. Even as Jack tries to distance himself from Thrull, the parallel structure of these lines ironically emphasizes their similarity.

“Visit the Hidden City and despair! Death awaits you! Not all will make it out alive!”

This line comes from a prophecy delivered by the monster guide at Thrull’s monument. It escalates the stakes for Jack’s quest, adding a new level of fear and danger. The reference to despair calls back to Globlet’s observation that the dimension has fallen into despair. If Jack continues his quest, he will have to accept some of that despair.

“Wracksaw, do we have to just keep doing this? I mean, c’mon. Do you ever just sit down with a good book? Or plop down on the couch and watch a movie with friends? What if we tried that?”

Jack says this line of dialogue to Wracksaw during their climactic rematch. While Wracksaw speaks to Jack with assertive, commanding language, Jack asks questions and tries to appeal to Wracksaw’s humanity. Jack’s strategy emphasizes empathy in the face of conflict, showing him using his expanded empathetic skills to try to reason with Wracksaw.

“How far will I go to stop Ŗeżżőcħ and to save my dimension and my friends? Dumb question, Jack. I’ll go as far as I need to.”

In this quote, Jack asks himself a fundamental question posed by the series. By asking himself “how far” he would go, Jack confronts the moral ambiguity and sacrifices involved in the mission, but he quickly dismisses any hesitation, reaffirming his willingness to face any challenge. This moment emphasizes the growth of his character, showing that his love for his friends and determination to defeat Ŗeżżőcħ surpass any doubts he may harbor about his own abilities.