How Does W. Jacobs Create Tension In The Monkey's Paw

Tension is created in ‘The Monkey’s Paw’ in a various way, mainly using sentence structures such as lots of minor sentences or short dialogues which builds up tension because lots of things are happening in a short amount of time. Gothic stories have lots of element to it, for this instance, it uses the symbolism, the ‘Monkey’s Paw’ to portray the mysteriousness happening to the White Family.

At the beginning when the author, W.W. Jacobs creates tension through the pathetic fallacy when explaining the settings in the story ‘The Monkey’s Paw’: “The night was cold and wet, but in the small parlour of Laburnum Villa the blinds were drawn and the fire burned brightly.” This means that inside of the Villa is warm whereas it is pitch-black and cold outside. The

adverb ‘brightly’ gives the effect that it is cosy and happy as if nothing is going to happen, however, this changes when the author sets the typical horror background mentioning, “cold and wet.” If something is cold and wet, it normally implies spookiness or eeriness. Jacobs uses pathetic fallacy to build a tension when the description of the weather looks like the feeling White family has. This is also a juxtaposition to show to contrast between the inside of the Laburnum villa and the outside, creating a rhetorical effect that something unpleasant is going to happen as it is strange that the villa is the only place that is bright in the given atmosphere by the Jacobs which builds up tension as the reader imagines that something very frightening could happen to the family.

As the story continues, W.W. Jacobs builds up the tension using symbolism after Mr. White shouted his first wish: “As I wished it twisted in my hands like a snake.” This means that the hand curled sinuously. The simile ‘like a snake’ gives the effect that the hand has twisted mysteriously, perhaps making the family think if they have done anything wrong whilst making the wish. This mysteriousness is clarified by the symbol ‘snake’ which literally could mean hands twisting smoothly, however, in this text, it is used metaphorically to connote ‘mystery or sly’ in general which builds tension because reader imagines that something mysterious could happen after the first wish.

Tension is created through foreshadowing after the first wish from the monkey’s paw was made: “She brought the stranger, who seemed ill at ease.” This means that Mrs. White brought a guest who looked uncomfortable. The phrase, ‘ill at ease’ gives the effect to the reader that the stranger knows something very uneasy to tell whether that is a bad news or not. This is improved by the word ‘ill’ describing his mind. If someone’s mind is normally ill they are in shock, demonstrating that the visitor is likely to bring a bad news for the family. This creates a gloomy effect which builds tension because the reader visualises that something nasty has happened to the son after the first wish was made.

W.W.

Jacobs continues to build up the tension using sentence structures: ‘“Wish!” She cried, in a strong voice. / “it is foolish and wicked,” he faltered. / “Wish!” repeated his wife.’ This means that the wife is forcing her husband to wish to bring Herbert back. The fact that Mr. White suggesting to not to bring their son back gives the effect that he does not want his son to be back since their son died from a machine, it is likely that he will come out as deformed child, as an ‘uncanny’ man that Mr. White does not want to be with. However, this idea is juxtaposed when his wife uses repetition, ‘wish’ which gives the effect that Mrs. White is desperate to bring her son back. This is developed by the phrase ‘strong voice’ as people will say it with strong voice when they are serious. The repetition also suggests insanity because the tone the wife speaks gets more and more threatening as she repeats herself. Sentence structure in here really builds up the tension because the quick pace that story progress really makes the reader question that what’s going to happen next rather than if the author have used complex sentence, it wouldn’t have gained any pace to the story and will drop the interest of the

reader.

Overall, in ‘The Monkey’s Paw’, lots of elements were used to create suspense and tension such as the whole plot, separated into three sections rather than one, however, the author mainly have used the sentence structures have been used to quicken the pace of the story with the variety of juxtapositions to compare and contrast two different events. The author also has used foreshadowing to warn the reader something bad is going to happen. Finally, symbolism has been used to not only to create sinister effect but also, it foreshadows the reader as well. I would argue that the sentence structures are the most important and effective factor of this story to build up the tension because it describes the text in a snappy way to keep the readers interest.