Many of the monsters have been transformed in the film to fit "monsters- that are experienced both now, and the time that the film is set in.
The Ku Klux Klan is an obvious monster. The racism that this group practices was a huge monster, especially at the time the film is set in, and racism still is a monster in today's society. One of the problems encountered by Ulysses in the story is a huge whirlpool that sucks in his crew, and threatens to take his life as well. The dance of the Ku Klux Klan, their white robes and circular patterns of standing arrangement could be a representation of this. The white robes being the white froth, as the sea becomes angrier, and the hanging of the Negro guitar player being the threatening of life. Another representation of this whirlpool could be the flooding of the valley near the end of the film, with this perhaps being the more obvious interpretation.
The police and their relentless pursuit of the threesome, despite having the Governors pardon being issued for them, are representing another monster, namely the corrupt nature of people in power, which is an issue faced in this depiction of the police.
This same issue is also shown in the Politicians in the film. The Governor sees (when the men are playing their songs in the hall) how much the people love their music, and takes advantage of it, making him more popular and putting his opponent down at the same time.
As well as these more obvious monsters, the monster of family is shown in the film through Pete's brother betraying them. They stop at his house, and he calls the police, so he can collect the reward. It shows that when money is involved, some people will even betray their own family to get more of it. As the old saying goes, "Money is the root of all evil- and that is a monster that is explored here.
Many of the events that take place in the film have also been transformed from the text, and much of the long journeys that Ulysses and Everett have to take are very similar.
