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Suspense And Foreshadowing In 'The Monkey's Paw'

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Published in September 1902, “The Monkey’s Paw,” written by WW Jacobs, used a variety of literary elements to convey horror, suspense, and tension throughout the story. The story is a mystical tale of three different people granted three different wishes by a cursed monkey’s paw. The use of foreshadowing pulled the reader into the dark and cold night when Sergeant Major-Morris visits the White’s home, and told them of the tale of the monkey’s paw and tries to destroy it by throwing it into the fire. Mr. White retrieved the paw and kept it for his own personal use. The use of the wishes from the paw came at a great cost to the family. In W. W. Jacob's, "The Monkey's Paw," he illustrated foreshadowing, imagery, and fate as a theme; thus, it …show more content…

The day after they conversed about the paw, Herbert and his mother teased his father about making a wish about money and that they would have to disown him for his greed. Herbert jokingly urged his father to make a wish for £200, to pay off the mortgage of their house. The mother and son continued and insinuated as she followed Herbert to the door, as he went to work. As the story unveiled, the mortgage is paid off with the granted wish of £200. Much to Mrs. White’s chagrin, her son had died due to him being caught in the machinery at work. Her son’s death yielded them the £200 that they had originally wished for. The aftermath of the first wish brought them to the second. Before the news of their son’s death, Mr. White took his wife’s hands, as if they were courting in their younger day. He had his wife all to himself; without the interference of their son. While at the house, after the funeral, Mrs. White cried out to her husband to use to paw to wish their son back to life. The father urged her that the request was too much because if she could not see him at the funeral, she would not be able to fathom the look of him if he came back. She wished for her son to come back and there came a knock at the door, and she ran downstairs in anticipation of her sons return. As she ran downstairs, Mr. White struggled to find the paw, found it and the knocking stopped. Bryce Skidmore, an editor and writer

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