Fate In Monkey's Paw By W. Jacobs

The night is crisp and black as the moon lets off an eerie glow, leaves rustle and fall somewhere in the distance. A silhouette dwarfs the blackberry bush in the corner as one’s footsteps refrain, they move closer; you run. Suspense is a state of tension and anxiety which was used in the sentence above and is common in books and short stories. In the short story “The Monkey’s Paw” by W.W Jacobs suspense is created in a variety of ways. Jacobs demonstrates this by using foreshadowing, conflict and surprise endings.

Taking place in a countryside home, W.W. Jacobs’s short story “The Monkey’s Paw” illustrates the White family’s two-day interaction with a seemingly innocent mummified monkey's paw. Each character presented in the short story represents natural human traits that can prove to be negative when greed and curiosity are involved. The use of symbolism throughout the story proves to be vital to the reader, as it allows him or her to understand the importance of every action done to the monkey’s paw has an opposite consequence. This correlates to everyone on Earth’s predetermined fate and the problems that an individual could face when greed overcomes their needs, even when it is for a better or worse life. When individuals are consumed by greed, like the White family, they must accept the consequences no matter how severe it is when it is something they truly seek in life.

The Cursed Talisman Is it possible to bring back the dead? W.W. Jacobs wrote a story called The Monkey s Paw, in which this question is answered. Mr. White, Mrs. White, Herbert, Sgt. Major Morris is the main character in the story. Morris gives the family a talisman known as the monkey s paw.

In this paragraph Herbert tells his dad to wish for 200 pounds even though he knows that they are not in dire need of any money. In fact Mr.White says “...‘I’ve got all I want’ ”(3 Jacobs). Both of these quotes work together to show that Herbert was the one who really wanted to wish on the paw, and was the one who pushed his family to wish on the paw initially. After this Herbert continuously makes sarcastic comments towards the paw and eventually because of all things it causes Herbert to die. Another reason Herbert is to blame for all the damage caused by the paw is because he is the first person to interact with the paw when it is first introduced to the white

Although regretting wishing another wish, Mr. White wishes Herbert, his son, to be alive again. Unfortunately, Mr. White realizes that Herbert will return in his mutilated form, so he quickly wishes for Herbert to return to the grave before his wife is traumatized. As Mr. White and his wife look out at an empty street, awaiting Herbert’s arrival, they are heartbroken knowing that they will probably never see Herbert again. Unlike Mr. White’s first wish, Mr. Peters wishes for a wife as beautiful as the forest. However, Mr. Peters apprehends that Leita, his wife, will never be satisfied being a human, because she longs to be with her swan sister. So, for his second wish, he wishes her back to swan form. Now, without Leita Mr. Peters, as well as Mr. White, is heartbroken and a lonely man, once again. Now, understanding that wishes only lead to misfortune, he decides not to use the third wish.

This shows that Mr. White realizes that the paw is not to be used. But he is still forced to make the second wish because Mrs. White had gone crazy and forced him to. After he makes the second wish, nothing happens. Until, 10 days later, they hear a knock at the door getting louder and louder. Herbert is brought back to life.

“The Monkey’s Paw” by W.W. Jacobs is a short story filled with mystery and tension as a small family of three are given an object that grants their wishes. Jacobs uses a lot of foreshadowing in the story by bringing Sergeant Major Morris into the story to warn the small family of three about the dangerous ancient object. The family is unaware of the dangers that come after they grant their wishes.     In the first section of the story, the family of three is introduced in the very beginning. Mr. White, the father, and his son, Herbert White, are playing a game of chess while the mother, Mrs. White, is watching them play.

The person who was most affected by his family’s mistake was obviously Herbert. The Whites wished upon the paw for more unnecessary money. This was received

The theme of “ The Monkey’s Paw” written by William W. Jacobs is to be satisfied with the one’s life and not interfere with fate. “‘He was a very holy man and he wanted to show that fate ruled people’s lives, and that to interfere with fate only caused deep sadness. ’”(Jacobs 1) This example shows that fate should not be interfered with because otherwise bad things will come from it, like when someone makes a wish from the monkey’s paw. People who wish for something with the monkey’s paw always end up regretting it because by doing so they mess with fate and the consequences are inescapable.

Is fate something that people can change? In the short story The Monkey’s Paw by W.W. Jacobs, the idea of fate is controlled through the actions of the characters. At first, the White family was waiting for a visitor. When the guest arrives, it is implied that the visitor is Mr. White’s childhood friend, Sergeant Major Morris. Mr. White questions the Sergeant about a magic paw that offers three wishes, however, this paw has consequences if the wisher doesn’t wish for something sensible.

The story begins on a rainy evening with Mrs. White, Mr. White, and their son Herbert gathered in the parlor. Mrs. White is sitting in her chair knitting as she looks on as her husband is losing to Herbert in a game of chess. From the inside, Mr. White can hear the footsteps of someone walking along their walkway and onto their porch. Mr. White immediately gets up to answer the door and is happy to see his longtime friend Sergeant-major Morris. Mr. White introduces Sergeant-major Morris to his wife and son and invites him into the parlor where they could have drinks. After a couple of drinks, Sergeant-major Morris begins entertaining the family about his adventures in India, when Mr. White

In W.W. Jacob’s short story titled “The Monkey’s Paw”, he details a tragic showcase of using shortcuts to push the reader to question their wishes and what it takes to achieve them. Through the exploits of the monkey’s paw by the White Family, Jacobs illustrates how seemingly innocent desires can unleash a chain of events with devastating repercussions. He uses the characters from the story to convey each aspect of human desire, he uses the setting to create a sense of uneasiness and force the characters to become desperate, seeing only one option. The conflict itself is between the White family internally and how they cannot accept reality. The story's characters, Mr. and Mrs. White, embody the human tendency to underestimate the consequences of their actions because their desires drive them.

Mr. White quick off his feet rescues it. Sergeant Morris demands he leaves the paw alone multiple times. Mr. White does not listen to Sergeant Morris. After, Sergeant Morris explains how to make a wish but highly discourages it. Sergeant Morris leaves and tells him the person before him who had this paw was that his last wish was for death. After Sergeant Morris leaves Herbert, Mr. White's son, says he is full of nonsense. Herbert says a thousand dollars would be nice in order to pay off the house. So, Mr. White makes the wish for a thousand dollars. Nothing happens for a while. Herbert leaves that night to go work in the factory and says he should be home for breakfast. The next morning Mr. and Ms. White notice Herbert is 20 minutes late. They keep looking out the window for him, but then they spot a woman in nice clothes walking around outside. Later she finally approached the house. She tells Mr. and Ms. White that their son died last night in the factory. Regret is seen vividly when Mr. and Ms. White receives this news. She hands them a suitcase with a thousand dollars in it and says this is for your lose. Mr. and Ms. White griefs until Ms. White comes up with a great idea. Mr. White runs and grabs the paw and wishes for their Hebert back. They look at the window and sees something arise from the graveyard. Ms. White is unable to open the door in time. Mr. White runs painfully and grabs the paw and wishes for his son to be dead in peace. This story was very

W. W. Jacobs wrote the short story “The Monkey’s Paw” in 1902. A great number of adaptations of the story have since been created using different forms of media. The two which are being compared here are the play adaptation The Monkey’s Paw dramatized by Mara Rockliff and the 2011 film version The Monkey’s Paw by Ricky Lewis Jr. Both the play and film feature the White family receiving a monkey’s paw by which three wishes may be granted. The paw had a spell put on it by a holy man who wanted to show that fate rules people’s lives and that if people try to interfere, they will be sorry. The main differences between the play and the film are that film gives more background information about how and why the paw was obtained, uses more

The Monkey’s paw by W. W. Jacobs is an eerie short story about a son who dies in a horrific way and a family who wants to bring him back. It focuses on an enchanted monkey’s paw that grants three wishes. The paw was enchanted by an old fakir that wanted to prove that fate controlled life and going against it would only lead to regret and sorrow. This plot point can be noted as an underlying theme, but the main theme is “be careful what you wish for, because you might get it”. While this story is superb, a question comes to mind: Would could be learned from this short story?