ipl-logo

Fate And Greed In 'The Monkey's Paw'

459 Words2 Pages

1. The theme of the story “The Monkey’s Paw” is fate and greed. I believe that the moral of the story and the overall message is do not alter with fate. In the short story, Mr. White uses the power of the monkey’s paw to wish for money to pay off his mortgages. Mr. White is tampering with fate and is using the paw for his own greed. Consequently, his wish ends up rebounding and ends in a negative way. In the text, it says “He wanted to show that fate ruled people's lives, and that those who interfered with it did so to their sorrow." This quote indicates that the paw is evil and every wish made upon the paw will have a backfiring consequence. In fact, Mr. White is also warned of the consequences that he will have to face if he puts the paw to use. However, he goes and uses it and suffers the consequences of his greed. 2. The author W. W. Jacobs sets the mood of the story through setting and atmosphere to create a horror/mysterious vibe to the reader. He uses nature and the surroundings of the characters to create mood as he describes the atmosphere of location. Jacobs begins the novel with “Outside, the night was cold and …show more content…

The short story had many hints along the course of the story that foreshadows occasions that will happen later in the story. For example, the first event of foreshadowing is the first death in the story. In the text, Sergeant-Major Morris says, “I don’t know what the first two were, but the third was for death,” when the White family asks what the old man who owned the paw before wished for. As a result, this foreshadows that there is evil in the paw and it is more of a pittance than a fortune. Moreover, Sergeant-Major Morris prompts the family that he can not be blamed for anything that happens due to the danger of the paw. Another example of foreshadowing is when Mr. White says there is a “Hark at the wind.” This is foreshadowing because the heavy wind blows through the house at the end of the story when Herbert is wished away by Mr.

Show More
Related
280 Words | 2 Pages

In W.W Jacob’s short story “The Monkey’s Paw,” there are many instances of foreshadowing in order to keep readers engaged and on the edge of their seats. In part one of “The Monkey’ Paw’” the White family is introduced to the monkey’s paw by, family, friend Sergeant Major Morris. Major Morris explains the dire outcome of using the paw. Mrs. White asks if anyone has used the paw before and Major Morris responds with “The first man used his wishes, yes,”...”I don 't know what his first two wishes were, but the third was for death.

Read More
526 Words | 3 Pages

This passage is important to the significance of The Monkey’s Paw by W.W. Jacobs because it is a big climatic moment in the text. This is shown through the dialogue used throughout this passage, the tone that Jacobs establishes, and again, the climatic moment shown. The significance of the short story is shown in this passage through the interesting dialogue Jacobs includes. The use of dialogue is important because it allows the reader to understand the characters and their feelings more.

Read More
530 Words | 3 Pages

The cause-and-effect relationship in “The Monkeys Paw” is an amazing example as to how much an occurrence can affect the story line and the suspense within it. In the story the mother and father are one of the major reasons why the suspense is there, because they made wishes in the story the paw (which is also a cause of the suspense) had

Read More
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

Read More
726 Words | 3 Pages

Conclude: The wishes granted by the paw only encouraged the blame on the unknown, rather than reflections on one's own actions. Conclusion Restate thesis: It is the realistic possibility of the paw that makes it fundamentally creepy.

Read More
435 Words | 2 Pages

By: Javan wright The Tell Tale Heart story and the monkey’s paw are both horror. The Tell Tale Heart story has three major characteristics; mystery, horror, and thriller. The monkey, paw has horror and the suspense was the supernatural events going on in the story. In these three paragraphs I will talk about the suspense, fear, and surprise in these two stories.

Read More
430 Words | 2 Pages

#1 about “The Monkey's Paw” The cause is that Morris said If you keep it, don't blame me for what happens. Sargent-Major Morris was the when Mr. White the paw, that night he gave it to him because he wanted it for it's power, Morris told Mr. White that the last wish will be evil. The fear in the charters words what they say it is like they

Read More
649 Words | 3 Pages

““Hold it up in your right hand, and wish aloud,” said Sergeant Major, “ but I warn you of the consequences,”(Jacobs 41). This explains that the paw is a metaphor that basically means that if you want something you must know consequences that the thing can cause you. Another example is from the story “Tell Tale Heart” this story uses symbolism to let the reader know that you should always before you do something because someone may

Read More
810 Words | 4 Pages

In the story “The Monkey’s Paw” there was a small amount of cause and effect events, these cause and effect events create different feelings like suspense and much more. Mr. White told a story about the monkey’s paw after hearing it he wanted to test it to see if it was true he then wished for 200 pounds. The next day a soldier came to their house, saying their son had died, but they got the two hundred pounds they wished for, this happened all because he wished for two hundred pounds its simple

Read More
546 Words | 3 Pages

In The Monkeys Paw, Mrs. White used the magical object (monkey’s paw). One out of the three wishes granted using the monkeys paw was to have her son back. The outcome of this was pounding at the door, not knowing exactly who was behind the door. The Monkeys Paw is all about granting wishes and not expecting its outcome. This is comparable to The Story of an Hour because Mrs. Mallard wished to have her husband back in her life, but she didn’t expect the outcome of actually seeing her husband alive.

Read More
776 Words | 4 Pages

Think Question 1: Foreshadowing is a literary device in which a writer gives an advance hint of what is to come later in the story. How does the author of “The Monkey’s Paw” use foreshadowing in the first chapter to suggest that the spell placed on the paw might not bring happiness to whoever possesses it? Cite textual evidence from the selection to support your answer. Response 1: W. W. Jacobs uses foreshadowing in "The Monkey 's Paw" by having Sergeant-Major Morris recount his experience with the monkey’s paw. After Herbert asked Morris if he already requested his three wishes, Morris replies with, “‘I have,’...and his blotchy face whitened” (Jacobs).

Read More
446 Words | 2 Pages

That creates suspense because the reader wants to know why he wished for death. It foreshadows that the paw brings bad luck. Sergeant Major Morris also tells the Whites “…don’t blame me for what happens” (Jacobs 91). It foreshadows that something very bad is going to happen. Herbert foreshadows his death by saying the quote “Well I don’t see the money…and I bet I never shall”(134-135 Jacobs).

Read More
582 Words | 3 Pages

The conflict in the story is not only the monkey’s paw but was somewhat Mr. White’s attitude. If he never was that greedy the story would have changed he would have agreed with Morris and burned the monkey’s paw but he didn’t want to do that creating the plot. Any change in the plot could have/ would have altered the course of the story but also altering the theme. In “The Monkey’s Paw,” the downfall of the White family is when they receive the two hundred pounds as a compensation for the son’s death which was actually caused by messing with fate.

Read More
622 Words | 3 Pages

Yet another use of foreshadowing is in the story, “The Lottery”, in the story, it describes that when everyone was getting to the center, the kids were gathering rocks in the center of the town. The rocks themselves are foreshadowing to the end of the story where the rocks are used to stone the person that won the lottery. Foreshadowing is a great use for adding detail to a story making it better for the

Read More
825 Words | 4 Pages

In the short story, The Monkey 's Paw we are first introduced to the White, the Mrs.White, Mr.White, and their son, Herbert White. Later in the story, we are introduced to Sergeant Major Morris who brought the mummy-like monkey’s paw to the Whites house. The theme of the Monkey 's paw is to never interfere with fate. The theme is shown through many forms in the short story. The forms are the events, the foreshadowing, and the actions.

Read More

More about Fate And Greed In 'The Monkey's Paw'

Related Topics

Open Document