The Last Kids on Earth and the Monster Dimension

The Last Kids on Earth and the Monster Dimension investigates the conflict between humanity and monstrousness and explores what the terms actually mean. Brallier uses both the physical differences between the human and monster dimensions and the internal conflict that Jack feels between his human self and his monster arm to examine this theme. Ultimately, Brallier argues that monstrousness and humanity have less to do with physical traits and more to do with ethical values and choices.

The novel’s settings in both the human and monster worlds are the foundation for Brallier’s exploration of the difference between humanity and monstrousness. At the beginning of the novel, he creates a stark divide between the monster dimension—a grotesque, otherworldly source of the zombie plague—and the human world, which represents Jack’s past life, friendships, and community. However, with the appearance of “rip-tears” between these worlds, the physical and moral barriers between humans and monsters begin to blur, hinting that there is less difference between the human and monster worlds than it first appears. 

When Jack and his friends first enter the monster world, it repels them. Brallier uses grotesque tactile imagery like the feel of a “corpse-raft’s bloated gut” and the smell of “Fruity Pebbles and burnt hair” to exaggerate the physical repulsiveness of this world (96, 99). According to Wracksaw, in the monster dimension, “grotesque is good” (86), and the aesthetics reflect that idea. However, as Jack’s journey continues, Brallier integrates humanlike qualities into the monster dimension, including infrastructure, daily routines, and emotional responses to devastation. Through such similarities, Brallier suggests that a monstrous aesthetic or the presence of strange creatures does not make a world “monstrous” in the sense of “evil.” 

Brallier further investigates the tension between humanity and monstrousness on a personal level through Jack’s relationship with his Cosmic Hand—a monstrous “gross-out arm” that grants him powers and a telepathic and conceptual connection to zombies and monsters. While Jack initially views himself as inherently opposed to villains like Wracksaw and Thrull because of their monstrous traits, he is gradually forced to confront his hybrid identity, realizing that he, too, embodies a fusion of human and monstrous qualities. The Cosmic Hand is a source of both fear and strength for Jack; he considers it like a “bucking bronco” that he must ride, “trying to hold on” (231), emphasizing the wild and uncontrollable feeling of it. However, Jack’s fear that the Cosmic Hand could overwhelm him is not rooted in its grotesque appearance but in the possibility that it could influence his actions in ways that betray his principles. In this way, Brallier centers state of mind, rather than physical identity, as the source of monstrousness.

Brallier also portrays complex portraits of the monsters themselves to illustrate how monstrousness is a state of mind. Throughout the novel, many of the monsters fight against Ŗeżżőcħ and strive to protect their world. By presenting monsters on both sides of the conflict, Brallier challenges the connection between monstrousness and malevolence. Instead, Ŗeżżőcħ embodies the true “monstrousness” in the novel with a worldview that prioritizes destruction and domination, disregarding the autonomy and survival of others. With its portrait of Ŗeżżőcħ’s manipulative and destructive tendencies, the novel highlights that what makes someone monstrous is a lack of respect for others and a desire to impose one’s will at any cost. In the end, through his own experience and his observation of other monsters, Jack discovers that monstrosity is about what one does, not who one is.