Mr. White's careless decisions throughout the short story “The Monkey’s Paw” by W.W. Jacobs show that he is undeniably responsible for the sorrows that befell his family. Mr. White brushed off Sergeant-Major Morris's warnings on multiple occasions and foolishly wished again and again when he knew of the consequences. Suppose Mr. White had been more cautious and heeded the multiple warnings, his family wouldn't have had to bear the weight of his actions with their sorrow.
Although Sergeant-Major Morris peaked the Whites curiosity of the monkey's paw by telling them the story and showing them the paw, he tried on several occasions to inform them the danger of wishing. Mr. White brought up the subject of monkey's paw again when Morris entered the house which heightened Mrs. White's curiosity. “What was that you started telling me the other day about the monkey's paw or something, Morris?” (pg.682). Sergeant-Major tells the
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Whites that “It had a spell put on it by an old fakir...to show that fate ruled people’s lives , and those who feared with it did so with their sorrow”(pg.683) Then, he informed them that the third wish of the first man was death. The fact that the first man's last wish was death should have had scared Mr. White and stopped any of his urge to wish on the paw. Before long, Morris pitched the paw into the fire knowing of the paw's misfortune, but it was Mr. White who snatched it off and retrieved it. Morris warned him, “If you keep it, don't blame me for what happens. Pitch it on the fire. Like a sensible man”(p.683). As predicted, Mr. White persisted and asked him “How do you do it?”(pg.634). After Mr. White trades his trifle for the paw, Morris once again pressed him to throw it away. Had Mr. White thrown away the monkey's paw and just listened for once, his son wouldn't have had to suffer the consequences with his death. Once Mr.
White was ready to make his first wish, he realized he had nothing that he desired and made the mistake of wishing for 200 pounds. “I don't know what to wish for, and thats a fact,” he said slowly. “It seems to me I've got all I want”(p.685). Although some may believe that Herbert is at fault because he mocked the power of the monkey's paw and suggested to wish for the 200 pounds in the first place, any normal human being would feel a bit skeptic if they were told a little talisman had magical powers. Also, Mr. White didn't have to wish for the money if he didn't want to. On page 686, Mr. White was “smiling shamefacedly at his own credulity.” Not only him, but both Mrs. White and Herbert both think that Mr. White is “credulous” or gullible. This suggests (but doesn't prove) that he might have had fallen for some schemes in the past. Had Mr. White been less gullible and not made the careless decision of wishing for money that he didn't need, he would've not lost his one and only son, Herbert, or caused the grief and sorrow of his
wife. A week after Herbert’s funeral, Mrs. White remembered that there were two more wishes left and as a result insisted on making Mr. White wish for his son back. Despite the fact that she was the one who persisted Mr. White to wish, it was Mr. White's choice to act upon her request. “He raised his hand. “I wish my son alive again.”(p.688). Mr. White could've retaliated against Mrs. White's persuasion and reminded her of the consequences of the first wish or better yet thrown away the monkey's paw after Herbert's death, but out of sheer fright he yet made another mistake and hampered with fate. Therefore, Mr. White is responsible for the misery that befell his family. He made one foolish choice after another. He neglected Sergeant-Major Morris's countless warnings of the power the monkey's paw possessed. Even though Mr. White knew that he had all that he wanted, he chose to wish for 200 pounds anyway. Due to his interference with fate, it cost him the life of his son. Mr. White learned the consequences of making a wish, yet he still listened to his wife and carried out her request by wishing for his son back from the dead. If Mr. White threw away the monkey's paw after he realized that it was of no use to him, or even better listened to Sergeant-Major Morris in the first place, none of the events of the final night would've occurred.
Additionally, Sergeant Major Morris knew the consequences of wishing upon the monkey's paw, saying on page 377, "I don't know what the first two [wishes] were, but the third was for death." This implied that the previous owner of the paw had suffered such severe consequences that he wished away his own life. Although Sergeant Major Morris refrained from giving the
Another reason why The Monkey's Paw explains foreshadowing with suspense or tension because in the article the author writes again "A rat," said the old man, in shaking tones—"a rat. It passed me on the stairs."
“I warn you of the consequences” - “The Monkey's Paw” (page 89) this essay will be comparing and contrasting Two stories “The Monkey's paw” by w.w. Jacobs and “The Third wish” by Joan Aiken. In “The Monkey's paw” and “The Third Wish” the mood and setting are almost completely different, If it wasn't for the theme this book wouldn't be so similar .
The Simpsons episode “The Simpsons Treehouse of Horror II” is about a magical monkey’s paw bought by the Simpsons, a modern day family that lives in a town called Springfield. The family uses the paw to grant themselves four wishes. The wishes, they soon find out, all include repercussions that harm the family in some way. The book “The Monkey’s Paw” is about a family that is given a monkey’s paw by a friend that says it can grant three wishes. The family’s home in this story is Laburnum Villa, sometime in the past. At first the family is skeptical of the friends claim that the paw is magic saying, “If the tale about the monkey’s paw is not more truthful than those he has been telling us, we shan't make much out of it.”(Page 4, W.W. Jacobs). They then proceed to use the paw and are surprised to find that what they wish for is in fact granted but comes with terrible consequences. While “The Monkey’s Paw” and “The Simpsons, Treehouse of Horror II” both share similar plots, the settings of the stories and the
One may stutter over the conception that a monkey’s paw holds the power to determine fate, rather than siding with freewill. In the short story, “The Monkey’s Paw,” an average family, located in the middle class discovers a monkey’s paw and are told that they had three wishes upon that magical, yet deceiving item. However, their decisions cost them several, unintended consequences, due to greed within the human mind. The author, W.W. Jacobs uses symbolism, foreshadowing, and irony to convey the peril of wish fulfillment and the dangers of interfering with fate.
Three wishes, an old Indian curse, and a mummified paw, that was cut from a monkey. This is going to be exciting! “The Monkey’s Paw” is a short story written by W.W. Jacobs in the early 1900’s just after the turn of the centenary. Even though the text is short, it grabs the reader’s attention and keeps them on the edge of their seats until the very end. As exhilarating as this thriller is to read, unfortunately like many literary works written during that time, “The Monkey’s Paw,” is demeaning towards women and goes against feminist literary criticism’s principles and ideologies.
...tive on the psychological damages of slavery. White believes “pairing the psychological with the enslaved woman’s means of survival has helped us analyze many patterns that emerged after slavery (10).”
In short, there are multiple similarities and differences in the characters, plot, and resolution in the short story and motion picture “The Monkey’s Paw” that clearly influence the audience. For instance, the difference in characters affects the mood. Similarities in the plot influence the tone, and the corresponding resolutions impact the theme. The director of the motion picture “The Monkey’s Paw” chose to stick to some aspects of the text as well as change some for numerous reasons, some of which include keeping the audience's attention, sustaining the author's tone in the text, and ensuring that the readers and viewers receive the same message.
Upton Sinclair had always insisted that The Jungle was misread but did he ever think it could have been miswritten? The style of writing is not effective when addressing issues in a capitalistic society but proves to be very effective when exposing the secrets of the meatpacking industry. The novel is not remembered for being a classic work in literature but rather an important book in history in that it changed the way America looked at food in the early part of the century.
that we become better people when we realize with empathy, we start to have more of a positive outlook on life and care more about the things around us. In her book, Domestic Work, Trethewey implies in the poem “white Lies” that “ the lies I would tell/ when I was growing up/light-bright,near-white/high-yellow,red boned/in a black place/were just white lies.”She also stated “ But I paid for it every time mama found out”(Trethewey,37). From this poem alone Trethewey gives us a clarity that you have to take responsibility of your own actions. The lies that the character were telling and
to why ghosts existed) and so they started to search for a new way of
The twist of the story revealed itself when Mrs. White opened the door to receive her money. The visitor from Maw and Meggins delivered the bad new of their sons untimely death, “He was ca...
Harding, James. "The Monkey's Paw: Overview." Reference Guide to Short Fiction. Ed. Noelle Watson. Detroit: St. James Press, 1994. Literature Resource Center. Web. 20 Apr. 2011.
I will just take it home and see what this fake thing can do.” The man went back to his house and sat down on the chair in the dining room staring at the monkey’s paw. He told his wife and daughter about how the old fakir gave him the monkey’s paw and how it granted wishes. The man said to the monkey’s paw “I wish for a million dollars.”
The company Herbert works in, Maw and Meggins, gives them a financial compensation of two hundred pounds. The Whites were aware of the consequences, but they chose to the paw anyway - which led to their Son’s