Punch & the Plushie

Maybe Punch was never meant to be there. He is discarded from the society, bullied by it. His mother abandoned him, denied him any warmth she was capable of, and he in need of. Monkeys his age refuse to play with him. The adults best him senseless for no reason. Perhaps there's something in him that the clan does not approve of. Something they are not used to and can't tolerate. An Anthropologist would conclude he is unfit in some way, and this is all a part of "survival of the fittest". Regardless, he's bannished from his own family, his own clan.

And so he turns to his plushie, and ironically of not even his own species. He senses comfort in it, a warmth that he never recieved. He senses it to be his friend, mother and everything in between. When he is bullied, he runs back to his safe place, to his protector, the plushie. He holds it dearly, cuddles it, walks around with it.

Interestingly, the plushie never offered him anything. It did not save him when he was bullied, it did not fight for him when he was beaten, it did not offer a mother's milk. All it offered was a chance to feel home. To feel content, without actually providing anything. The plushie is a symbol, a hope. A false reminder that he has somebody, someone to rely on, someone to come to when distressed. And maybe, this is what Punch needed the most. Not someone real to fight for him, or do him favours. All he needed was a a symbol of hope, however false and idiotic. But a symbol nonetheless .

To be there with him when he's at his lowest. Standing by him even tho it can't really even stand. Offer him a warmth it isn't capable of. Offer him love it can't feel itself. Offer a partner to talk to tho it lacks a mouth or ear.

I can't help but see in it the primal need of any animal. Hope. Symbol. Something that is rooted in falsehood and impracticality. But the mind gives it the power to heal themselves. Although it is the mind, that ultimately heals itself. But it needs a medium to channel it through. A symbol. 

The orangutan plushie is the symbol humanity needs.