We understand very little of life, pain and people. Sometimes life is just so cruel, it made us feel the pain of loss at such a tender age. And we try to fit in everywhere but couldn't. People just don't let us fit in. We want a escape but there is none. 
 Conor is just a small boy who was trying to fit in everywhere and trying his damnedest hard to be brave for his mother's sake. People were offering him sympathy when all he needed was a little normalcy in life. Everything around Conor made him closed off when he needed to open up, when he needed to cry. And the monster gave him his escape.