Monkey Business

I never knew that monkeys had social hierarchies -until today. While watching Monkey Kingdom with the littlest prince I discovered that not every monkey has it made. Well at least not these monkeys. I just assumed that all monkeys were free to roam about and frolic with as many other monkeys as they wished. Maya, a South Asian Monkey and the star of the movie; was born at the lowest level of the social class. Which for her meant that she would never be allowed in the trees and she would forever be a servant to the Alpha class. The monkeys of the very upper class lived in the very top of the trees. They had their pick of the ripest fruit. The next level lived in the middle of the trees where the fruit were not so ripe. However, since Maya was born beneath the tree she only received the scraps or the overripe fruit that had fallen to the ground. Low Ranker. She becomes a single mother but is reunited later with the father of her son.  It’s an interesting tale that carries an even more interesting message. Strength. Resilience. Determination.  Maya and her family only wanted peace, acceptance, respect and love.  I’m sure now that other animals lead similar lives and  have similar undocumented tales. However, just as humans every story can’t be told and so every struggle will not be heard.