While one would assume the person primarily responsible for the misery is the one who introduced it, in W.W. Jacobs’ The Monkey’s Paw, the sorrow resulted from a seemingly innocent character. In W.W. Jacobs’ The Monkey’s Paw, Mr. White is the most responsible for the sorrows that result from wishing on the monkey’s paw because he’s the one who disregarded Sergeant-Major Morris’ warnings, and he’s the one who makes all three wishes. When Morris first apprehensively shares the story of the monkey’s paw, he tells the family how it was spelled by a fakir to demonstrate what happens when one tampers with their fate. He warns the family three times not to use it, as he is aware of the dire consequences, and he even alerts the family that someone …show more content…
White] shook his head and examined his new possession closely. How do you do it? he inquired” (Jacobs, 3). Mr. White’s curiosity to learn about the object demonstrates his credulity. He recklessly takes the paw and believes in its powers, despite being aware of the danger it can bring and Morris’ pleas not to. His impressionability ultimately sets the tragedy of events in motion, inviting evil into his family’s life. After receiving the paw through an exchange driven by greed, Mr. White and his family ponder what to wish for. Mr. White acknowledges that he doesn’t know what to wish for, as he already has everything he needs. Despite this, he foolishly makes a wish jokingly suggested by his son, Herbert. “‘I wish for two hundred pounds,’ said the old man distinctly” (Jacobs, 4). By unnecessarily wishing for more, Mr. White succumbs to temptation. His willingness to wish while being conscious of the potential consequences further illustrates how he made irrational decisions out of greed. The next day, the family receives news that Herbert died, and they’re given two hundred pounds as compensation. Mr. White finally realizes the price he’ll have to pay for his unearned
Author W.W. Jacobs utilizes day-to-day life to generate a horrifying situation and showing how the average family would react to it in “The Monkey’s Paw”. In this short story, an ordinary, everyday family finds themselves tormented by a monkey’s paw that ends up killing and then resurrecting their son. While the plot is completely preposterous, the characters, setting, and character reactions are relatable to how the average person would react. W.W. Jacobs uses relatable characters, reactions, and
“The Monkey’s Paw” by W.W. Jacob, features a loving family who falls into the monkey’s paw’s trap. Mr. White wants to gain money by using the magic monkey’s paw. However, the wish comes at the cost of his son's life. In the end, Mr. Whitehe tries to bring his son back and correct his mistake, but learns that it will only bring further consequences. Mr. White's three wishes are motivated by curiosity, hope, and
Who’s to blame? W.W Jacobs The Monkey’s Paw, is a play about the White’s, a family of three. Everything is fine at the White’s place, until a friend, Sergeant Major Morris visits their house. After a few drinks, Mr.White brings up the monkey’s paw, which is a cursed object that is able to grant three wishes to three people. He mentions that everyone who makes a wish regrets it later on. Mr.White asks S.M.M if he would make a wish, he gets scared and throws it in the fire. Mr.White takes it out
Two stories may be very different, but very alike. “The Monkey's Paw” by W.W. Jacobs is relatively similar to another story named, “The Third Wish” by Joan Aiken. These stories are very different in tone but very similar in the main idea. In both stories a man acquires three wishes and must use more than one to fix previous wish mistakes. One is accidental death and another is a sad companion. Both stories tackle the, “be careful what you wish for” idea and both show that problems can be created
story of the monkey's paws shows us just how far people will go to change their fate. The story is about this monkey's paw which had a spell casted on it by an old fakir. The fakir wanted to show that fate ruled people's lives, and that those who interfered with it did so to their sorrow. The paw allowed three people to have three of their wildest wishes but were warned to proceed with caution. This story contains three parts in which they show just how dangerous and mischievous the paw is. In the
If you were given 3 wishes, you would almost certainly use them all to get what you wanted, even if there was a warning. This is what happens in “The Monkey’s Paw” by W.W. Jacobs. The main characters, Mr. White, Mrs. White, and Herbert White, are given a magical monkey paw from General Morris. He warns them not to use it, as bad things are sure to happen. Mr. White wishes for 200 pounds at first, but then Herbert dies and they get 200 pounds from the company he worked at. Next, Mr. White wishes for
“The Monkey’s Paw” by W.W. Jacobs is a short story about the White family. One night they’re given an ornament that resembled a monkey’s paw. Sargeant-Major Morris, the man who gifts the Whites the monkey’s paw, explains the magic of the paw in detail. “… a very holy man. He wanted to show fate ruled people’s lives, and that those who interfered with it did so to their sorrow. He put a spell on it so that three separate men could each have three wishes from it.”(W.W. Jacobs 2) As the story concludes
The Monkey’s Paw by W. W. Jacobs, The Clubfooted Grocer by Sir Arthur Canon Doyle, The Red Room by H. G. Wells and The Signalman by Charles Dickens Analyse how the writers successfully use aspects of the supernatural to create dramatic tension in the short stories you have read. The nineteenth century was an era of general belief in ghosts and spirituality. This is what made gothic stories even more appealing and successful during this era – the fact that they would be seen as being realistic
How do greed and grief tear close relationships apart? In “The Monkey’s Paw” by W.W Jacobs, the White family shows love and amazing experiences as well as Herbert’s mother's observations of the knock on the door and whether it is her son alive, dead, or not her son at all. Throughout a short story, “The Monkey’s Paw” shows a day in the life with the magic monkey paw, with a normal family like yours and mine. During the day, Herbert turns from dead to alive, the mother freaks out trying to follow
The short story “The Monkey’s Paw” creates mystery, tension, and surprise. The author, W. W. Jacobs, uses certain sayings to build surprise, tension, and mystery and grab the reader's attention. The family obtains the paw from another man that warned them of its effects. In the story the tension and mystery is built up followed by a few surprises. There is a lot of mystery behind this “Monkey's Paw”, like what is it? The “Monkey’s Paw” is a metal paw that can grant anyone 3 wishes, but be warned
Unlimited wishes sounds amazing, but the White Family in “The Monkey’s Paw” by W.W. Jacobs, learn what terrible things can happen when I wish is casted. One night the White Family was given an ornament, an ornament that resembles a monkey’s paw. Sargeant-Major Morris, the man who gifts the Whites the monkey’s paw, explains the magic of the paw in detail. “… a very holy man. He wanted to show fate ruled people’s lives, and that those who interfered with it did so to their sorrow. He put a spell on
“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
Finding a monkey's paw that grants wishes is always surprising. W.W. Jacobs wrote horror, short story, “The Monkey’s Paw”. Overall, it focuses on a house in Lakesnam Villa, where the White couple is given a monkey's paw to grant their wishes. However, the wishes do not go well, forcing Mr. White to wish for his son to die. The author W.W. Jacob uses characterization and setting to suggest that the Whites’ misfortune is not because of the magic of the monkey’s paw, but due to coincidence and their
The short story “A Monkey’s Paw” by W.W. Jacobs creates a single emotion of fear on the reader. This single emotion allows the story to be called a short story because it create a single emotional effect. This then shows that the story follows Edgar Allan Poe's definition of a short story; a brief prose narrative so constructed in plot, character, and setting as to create a single emotional effect. The plot of the story helps to develop this single emotional effect. A main example of this would
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