The Monkey's Paw Compare And Contrast Essay

In order to compare and contrast the ending of the short story “The Monkey’s Paw” by W.W. Jacobs and the ending of Ricky Lewis, Jr’s film adaptation, one must think about all of the differences and similarities in both versions. The short story and film, both contain Mother struggling to open the door. In film there is a scene towards the end, showing a shadow, which frightens the audience, move across Herbert’s grave. This scene does not exist in the text although, it does appear in the movie.

Both mediums of The Monkey’s Paw include Mother struggling to open the door for Herbert. On page 116 of the story, it said, “It’s my boy; it’s Herbert!” she cried, struggling mechanically.” The author keeps this to show how determined Mother is to have her son back. Some other similarities are that Mr. White tries holding on to Mother, and in both versions Mother has a hard time trying to open the door for her son, because she cannot reach the bolts. Director keeps Mr. White holding on to Mother while she

is seen trying to get loose, even though she is struggling, she doesn’t quit. This is because the director wants the viewers to know why Mr. White does not want the door opens and to show Mother’s determination. As a result both renderings include Mother struggling to open the door for Herbert, which shows how intensely she wants her son back.
In the film The Monkey’s Paw the director chooses to add a scene, that does not exist in the story.

In the text its read, “At the same moment a knock…, sounded on the front door.” There is no mention of a shadow or a gravestone in the text, however in the movie there's a scene with those thing. At 25:09 minutes through 25:20 minutes the movie clearly shows a shadow pass in front of Herbert’s colorless grave. In other words; the Whites go to bed after the second wish is wished, then a quick flash of the grave is revealed. The director chose to add this scene in the film because he wants to make it as clear as possible that the White’s son, Herbert, who has been dead for a while, is back. The director probably does not want confusion in the audience because it would get the film off track, so he shows that the second horrifying wish was granted. Therefore, the film has an added scene, showing that the paw does make wishes come true, making it clear that Herbert is

alive.
In both rendering of The Monkey’s Paw, suspense is gradually built by mentioning or showing characters struggling, making the point of view of the readers question what will happen next. As said in the text, “Don’t let it in,” cried Mr. White trembling.” This medium has the author calling Mr. White, who was once seen as the man of the house, an “old man”. Which adds to Mr. White being seen as weak and struggling. This constructs suspense for the readers leaving us to wonder if Mr. White will even succeed because we now question our faith in him. During the film, Mr. White grabs Mother, who desperately wants her son back, trying to stop her from opening the door, then Mr. White is is seen struggling to find the mischievous paw. The film’s director adds suspenseful music with a fast tempo, so Mr. White instantly feels rushed to find the paw, where there is no lighting causing him to grope the floor. Also the constant camera switching add more rush and creates suspense. Lastly, with the suspense the author generates, W.W. Jacobs make sure that we do not question fate and we just leave it alone.