VII: The Bridge of Apes explained

What happens

Themes in this chapter

• Adventure and Exploration

  The Doctor and his animals journey through the jungle, discovering new foods, sleeping in palm-leaf tents, and experiencing the thrill of travel.

• Friendship and Loyalty

  The animals support each other: Chee-Chee guides, Polynesia finds food, and the monkeys form a bridge to save the Doctor from capture.

• Freedom vs. Captivity

  The Doctor and his animals flee the King's pursuit to reach the safety of the Land of the Monkeys, escaping imprisonment.

Characters to notice

• Doctor Dolittle

  Leads the group, carries Gub-Gub and the luggage, trips over his medicine-bag, and is the last to cross the bridge of apes.

• Chee-Chee

  Guides the group through the jungle, knows all the paths, hides them in a hollow tree, and tells stories of ancient times.

• Gub-Gub

  Gets tired easily, is carried by the Doctor and later by a big monkey, cries but is comforted with coconut milk.

• Polynesia

  Helps find fruits and vegetables in the jungle, sings songs about the sea around the campfire.

• Jip

  Comments on the steep cliff, saying 'Golly! How are we ever going to get across?'

• King of the Jolliginki

  Grows furious, sends his army and servants to catch the Doctor, and later orders them to stay in the jungle until they succeed.

• Ermintrude

  Is forced to help search, gets tired and suggests giving up the search at dawn.

Key passages

• “Then Chee-Chee turned to the Doctor and said, "Many great explorers and gray-bearded naturalists have lain long weeks hidden in the jungle waiting to see the monkeys do that trick. But we never let a white man get a glimpse of it before. You are the first to see the famous 'Bridge of Apes.'"”

  Chee-Chee tells the Doctor that many famous explorers and scientists have tried for weeks to witness the monkeys' bridge trick, but the Doctor is the first white man ever allowed to see it.

  Highlights the unique trust the monkeys place in the Doctor.

• “And many of the tales that Chee-Chee told were very interesting. Because although the monkeys had no history-books of their own before Doctor Dolittle came to write them for them, they remember everything that happens by telling stories to their children.”

  Chee-Chee's stories were fascinating because monkeys preserve their history through oral tradition, passing tales down to their young, since they had no written records until the Doctor arrived.

  Explains the monkeys' method of preserving history through storytelling.