The central character of Makak in Dream on Monkey Mountain is the representative of all colonial subjects who wish to find their true identities while living under political systems that actively suppress Indigenous culture and tradition. Like so many colonial subjects, he has experienced a crisis of identity. Due to centuries of repression, his people no longer truly know who they are. This cultural ignorance fuels an unconscious desire, as expressed in Makak's vivid dream, to return to pre-colonial Africa, which in Makak's dream state, is presented as an unspoiled paradise.

The entire play, then, can be interpreted as an allegory of the colonial subject's search for an identity. As one can imagine, this search is presented as no easy feat; and Makak's adventures show us just how difficult it is. In fact, even when Makak finally realizes his dream of becoming an African king—albeit inside another dream—there are further complications to be had. Far from being a wise, benevolent ruler, Makak turns out to be a violent, blood-thirsty tyrant.

So horrible is this vision that it causes Makak to wake up. More importantly, it leads him to the realization that he does not need to travel thousands of miles to find himself; he can do so right at home, on Monkey Mountain. This doesn't mean, of course, that Makak has become reconciled to colonialism and everything it stands for. What it does mean, though, is that he will only be able to find his true self, not in a romanticized fantasy world, but in the land of his birth, with all its multiracial and multicultural richness.