Comparing The Monkey's Paw And The Goldfish

There is no doubt in the fact that The Monkey’s Paw (written by: W.W. Jacobs) and The Goldfish (written by: Etgar Keret) are very similar. What a lot of people fail see though, is that even with them being so similar, they aren’t. Each one has its own meeting and its own story to be told.

In these stories the most noticeable similarity is that they both are centered around the three wishes and magical things that grant them. “He put a spell on it so that three separate man could have three wishes..” (Monkeyś Paw page 2). Similarly in the goldfish story, “If you found a talking goldfish that granted you three wishes, what would you wish for?” The fact that they are granted three wishes are the same, but they are granted by different things. In The Goldfish story they are granted by a talking goldfish, but in Monkeyś Paw they are granted by the cursed paw. This might seem like a little difference, but each one plays a role in the story line. This is because the character in The Goldfish [Sergei] is lonely and wants the goldfish to be its companion. This is why he struggled to give up his third wish, because as soon has the goldfish grants your third wish he is to be set free. This is the main part of this story and it would not make sense for a cursed Monkeyś Paw to

give the wishes because a monnkeyś paw cannot be a companion.
The next difference is roles that the wishes make in the story. In the Goldfish story the characters Yonatan is doing a documentary that ask the question, “If you found a talking goldfish that granted you three wishes, what would you wish for?” (The Goldfish page 2). When he is during the documentary his goal is to go to the doors of several different people of different backgrounds, so he could get different points of view from people of different types. Yonatan eventually runs into Sergei which is a man with an actual talking goldfish. Sergei’s goldfish has already granted him two wishes the first being for his sister who had cancer. The second was for his girlfriend's son that he would be right in the mind. Even after killing Yonatan on accident he still had a hard time giving up his third wish to bring him back to life. This is because he is lonely and wants a companion and the fish was his forced friend. Also in Monkey’s Paw Sergeant-Major Morris tells the White family about the curse paw, “I threw it on the fire. If you keep it, don’t blame me for what happens. Pitch it on the fire again, like a sensible man.”(Monkey’s Paw page 2). The cursed paw ends up killing Mr. and Mrs. White’s son to get their wish which was 200 lbs. This is the Climax of the story, and the story would not be the same unless it was a cursed monkey’s paw.
Even with the differences they have many similarities.

One being the fact that in both stories someone dies causing them to use up more wishes to wish them alive again. “...But in consideration for your son’s services they wish to present you with a certain sum as compensation.” (Monkey’s Paw page 4) This is when the White family finds out there son is dead and they receive their wish (200 lbs) because of it. Later in the story Mrs. White says, “...Go down and get it quickly, and wish our boy alive again.”(Monkey’s Paw page 5) So in result they ended up using another wish to wish their son alive. In the Goldfish story Sergei after killing Yonatan, with some convincing, also wishes Yonatan alive

again.
So in conclusion, the two stories The Goldfish and Monkey’s Paw have many differences and many similarities. The stories both have an unique story that they tell, and both have different meaning with the wishes they wish for. In The Goldfish story all Sergei wanted was a companion, and in Monkey’s Paw they was for something and receive it in a way they weren’t expecting and didn't want.