The Monkey's Paw Foreshadowing Analysis

Foreshadowing is common in many stories to show the reader glimpses of the future. In “The Monkey’s Paw”, foreshadowing is used to make the story more dynamic and interesting. Some specific examples of foreshadowing in “The Monkey’s Paw” are Mr. White’s radical chess game and the unpleasant stories about the monkey’s paw.
First of all, we learn that Mr. White played chess by making radical changes and “putting his king into such sharp and unnecessary perils”. Taking these risks ultimately result in Mr. White losing the game of chess. The details about how Mr. White plays chess and how the risk he takes result in him losing the game foreshadow what happens later in the story. Later, the reader is not surprised when Mr. White immediately wants

to use the monkey’s paw before even considering the consequences. In this case, the consequence for Mr. White’s risk is the death of his son Herbert.
Second of all, we learn that the results of the wishes from the monkey’s paw are not usually good. Morris says of the monkey’s paw “it has caused enough mischief already”. When asked if he would like another three wishes, Morris replies with “I don’t know”. Also Morris throws the paw into the fire so that no one else will be able to receive wishes from it. All of these things foreshadow that the result of the wishes from the paw have bad consequences that come with them. A specific example is when Mr. White wishes for the 200 pounds, his sons dies in a work accident and they are compensated with 200 pounds from the company.
Foreshadowing is used a lot in “The Monkey’s Paw” to warn the reader ahead of time of something bad that will happen later in the story. As soon as Morris says that one man’s third wish is death, the reader knows that the monkey’s paw can cause serious trouble. There are many details in the story that foreshadow Herbert’s death and the pain that Mr. and Mrs. White will face.