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Comparing The Monkey's Paw And The Gift Of The Magi

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People are always searching for acceptance

I’m sure most of us have heard the phrase, “People are always searching for acceptance”. This is usually done to show people that they need the approval of you or your behavior. The short story, The Gift of the Magi shows two couples who value two objects they own and give them up to buy each other a Christmas present. But both Jim and Della were low on money and came up with the idea to give up the two special things they owned. Della gives up her beautiful long hair that Jim adores, and Jim gives up his gold watch that once belonged to his father. Della is then worried about how Jim will react to her cutting her long, beautiful hair. Similarly, in the short story “The Monkey’s Paw” by W.W. Jacobs, there is an element of wanting money to be accepted by society or to be considered rich. In both short stories, “The Gift of the Magi” and “The Monkey’s Paw,” the authors use objects to reveal that …show more content…

Jacobs short story “The Monkey’s Paw,” the author's writing moves when the author mentions the monkey’s paw and what it does. It explains it could possibly be called magic because “it had a spell put on it by an old Fakir,'' said the Sergeant-Major,” a very holy man” (W.W. Jacobs 2). When Mrs.White asks how to do it, he mentions that “if you do wish for something, you must wish for something sensible” and that you must hold it up in your right hand and state your wish out loud so he can be heard. When Herbert mentions to him, “Why, we’re going to be rich, famous, and happy.” Wishing a king, father, to begin with;then mother can’t complain” (W.W. Jacobs 4). Mrs White says he has everything he wants and isn’t sure what to wish for, and it seems like he had everything. Herbert then says that two of the hundred pounds would enable them to pay off the money owed for the house. Afterward Mrs. White is convinced and decides to wish for two hundred pounds, but later on, this shows how the monkey's paw had affected the

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738 Words | 3 Pages

In the story, “The Monkey’s Paw,” by WW Jacobs, the White family have their friend, Sargent- Major Morris over at their house. With him, he brought stories of the wars he fought in, but he also brought the story of The Monkey’s Paw, which was a legend that said that the three people who were in possession of the monkey’s paw were granted three wishes. Mr. White received the monkey’s paw from Sargent Major and decided to make a wish. The course of his events, documented in the story, were soon made into a movie.

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298 Words | 2 Pages

In this essay, i will be telling you about the two stories that we read. First, i will be telling you about “The Monkey’s Paw.” , it’s a story Sergeant Major Moris brings The White family a magic monkey paw that grants any three wishes that you want. The next story is “The Third Wish.” which is about a man that frees a swan that is in trouble that turns out to be the king of the forest.

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474 Words | 2 Pages

Chatter against the glass. Another example is when he tells Mr. & Mrs. White about the previous Owner had his first two wishes granted but the third was for death, he is hinting the danger that is Obviously connected to the monkey's paw. Once Herbert is killed the Whites then receive the Two hundred pounds they are so lonely without their son. Mr. White then begs to wish his son back .

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366 Words | 2 Pages

The Monkey’s Paw has a few characters and is also there is family called the Whites. The characters in this story are Mr. and Mrs. White and their son also some others character. There is character that had the paw and there are also others that had used the paw and there are others that have heard about the paw. The paw can grant up to three wishes but use them wisely.

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692 Words | 3 Pages

Furthermore, when asked if his wishes came true, he replied, “I did”. ( 9). This started all sorts of ideas and possibilities in the Whites’ minds, thinking of how with the paw they can get all they ever wanted. Knowing what happens to the family later in the story, if we think about it, if Sergeant-Major Morris had never told the story behind the paw or that it worked they would have never wanted it. In short, if Sergeant-Major Morris

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541 Words | 3 Pages

This differs from the movie because Herbert says 200 instead of 300 pounds. The characterization in The Monkey's Paw are similar. Mr. White is a very curious and direct character. He is so curious about the paws' powers it leads to his son's demise.

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726 Words | 3 Pages

Thesis: In The Monkey's Paw by W.W Jacobs, the realistic essence of the monkey's paw made it fundamentally creepy. Point 1: The monkey's paw is a symbol for inclination for greed, exposing our superior wants as people, even the most humble. Point 2: Consequences for the actions of those using the paw develops the image of regret and fear. Point 3:

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254 Words | 2 Pages

Since they are always changing, people never know what is going to happen. In “The Monkey’s Paw”, Mr. White could have made many different decisions about what to do with the paw. The fact that he chose to make wishes was only one of the few things he could have done with it.

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749 Words | 3 Pages

“The Monkey’s Paw” by W.W. Jacobs follows a family of three who falls into the possession of a mysterious relic. Despite their initial suspicion, the trio comes to learn that the monkey’s paw is capable of granting three wishes, albeit with a price. Throughout his story, W.W. Jacobs utilizes foreshadowing, motifs, and symbolism to teach readers that rash decisions have disastrous results. Early on, Jacobs foreshadows the disastrous consequences of the characters’ choices through the wisdom of Sergeant-Major Morris. The Sergeant-Major tells the family the story of the monkey’s paw and advises them not to wish upon it.

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1566 Words | 7 Pages

Arthur St. John Adcock is an English novelist and poet as well as a journalist. He mentions that “the uncanny grimness of ‘The Monkey’s Paw’ by a pathos that is wrought to a pitch of almost painful intensity when the knock comes on the door at night and the heart-broken mother, after struggling desperately with the bolts, flings the door open and there is nothing there” (Adcock 3). The family makes an avoidable mistake by wishing with the monkey’s paw, but when they finally realize that, it is already too late. Their first innocent wish flips their lives upside down and they bring themselves irreversible pain and sorrow through a few words. Carl Mowery, a professor at several universities with a doctorate in rhetoric and composition, gives a great statement about the story as a whole.

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1284 Words | 6 Pages

People do not think about the consequences of their actions and only acknowledge the immediate reward or happiness they will receive. Mr. White asked Sergeant Morris about the Monkey's paw he had, ¨telling me the other day about a monkey's paw¨(Jacob 2). In Chinese culture monkeys symbolize fortune and luck which are more magical, further symbolizing the wishes. In other Asian cultures, a monkey symbolizes more positive ideas like joy and happiness. The White family was happy because they believed their wishes might come true.

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1054 Words | 5 Pages

and he wants to get rid of it. Mr. White takes the paw from Morris and explains how if Morris doesn’t want it he should give it to him, yet again Morris doesn’t agree but gives it to Mr. White. Mr. White asks how to make a wish and Morris explains it to him, at the time he doesn’t make a wish. When Morris leaves the White’s son Herbert tells his father he will be happier if the house was paid off, so Mr. White wishes for 200 pounds. This clearly shows that Mr. White chose to take the paw from Sergeant Major Morris and used it.

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440 Words | 2 Pages

White and Mr. White in sorrow, but hope came when they wished their son back to life. Mrs. White realized the monkey’s paw had two more wishes, and since she was in so much grief, the second wish was used greedily. But, Mrs. White completely forgot about the consequences that would come, while Mr. White was doubting the use of the second wish, due to the fact that, their past wish brought them much sorrow. The author writes, “ ‘For God’s sake don’t let it in,’ cried the old man, trembling.” (Jacobs 12).

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776 Words | 4 Pages

With Morris’s face whitening, it tacitly tells the audience that something terrifying happened when Morris made his wishes. This foreshadows that something dreadful will happen once the Whites make their wishes. Question 2: Compare Mr. White’s feelings about the monkey’s paw when he makes the first wish, second wish, and third wish. How does his attitude change?

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825 Words | 4 Pages

Have you ever watched a suspenseful movie about magic? Have you ever wished you had your own genie that would grant you three wishes? However, the three wishes aren 't exactly what you wished for? Well in the story the Monkey’s Paw that pattern seems to be happening a lot.

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