Bad Monkey uses humor and absurdity to satirize the often irrational extremes of human behavior, particularly when driven by the pursuit of power, wealth, or gratification. The novel’s characters engage in bizarre, often illegal schemes to pursue their goals, revealing the lengths to which people will go to satisfy their desires. This theme of absurdity underscores the irrationality of human nature, particularly when unchecked by social or moral restraints.

Andrew Yancy, a former detective, exemplifies this ridiculousness. His revenge on Clifford Witt involves using a vacuum cleaner as a weapon during a fit of rage (an unconventional, almost slapstick approach to handling conflict). This behavior escalates further via Yancy’s vendetta against the spec house, which he sees as an affront to the natural beauty of the Florida Keys. Rather than pursuing legal means to halt the construction, Yancy engages in several ludicrous acts to sabotage the property, including relocating a beehive into the house and setting up faux sacrificial symbols on the floor: “Yancy took no delight in Evan Shook’s tribulations but wrong was wrong—the mansion was a fucking abomination. Yancy’s objective was to prevent it from being sold and finished” (137). Yancy’s action’s, which he justifies through a sense of self-righteousness, underscore how people often resort to extreme, sometimes irrational means when their values are at stake.