ipl-logo

Suspense In The Monkey's Paw

819 Words4 Pages

“The Monkey’s Paw” is no ordinary story, this tale pounds upon the reader with the unrelenting suspense, but how does this story create such suspense? The pacing of the story keeps the reader wonder what has happened and keeps them latched onto this thrilling tale. Foreshadowing foretells the story prior to the actual reveal causing the reader to find these hidden clues guiding deeper into the story. Last but certainly not the least any information taken away from the story contributes to the suspense due to its intense grasp upon the reader forcing them to delve deeper into the story. This eerie sensation given off by this story can be called many things but the true name for this feeling is suspenseful. Pacing is a key element in any story …show more content…

“The Monkey’s Paw” holds back a lot of information, a perfect example of this is when Herbert’s boss comes to tell Mr. White about his son’s death he wouldn’t say Herbert had died he only said, “He was badly hurt, but he’s not in any pain.” It leaves the readers imagination to decide on what happened to Herbert; this state of unknowing creates suspense forcing the reader to continue to read to figure out what happened. Another example of this literary device is when Mr.White says to Mrs.White "He has been dead ten days, and besides he - I would not tell you else, but - I could only recognize him by his clothing. If he was too terrible for you to see then, how now?" this is almost self-explanatory, during those 10 days the no information is given as well as Herbert’s appearance, so the reader is left to decide based on all the give information; what had happened to Herbert. THe intentional lack of detail was a great contributor to the story and would not have reached the level of suspense that it did without the withholding of

Show More
Related
628 Words | 3 Pages

This shows a contrast of the setting in the story. The upcoming quote can make a part of the story eerie. “The candle-end, which had burned below the rim of the China candle stick was, throwing pulsating shadows on the ceiling and walls, until, with a flicker larger, than the rest, it expired.” This is showing how a quote can make an eerie and scary in the story. This evidence concludes that W.W. Jacobs does a good job at creating a suspenseful and eerie story in “The Monkeys Paw.”

Read More
582 Words | 3 Pages

Suspense essay Many authors use setting to create suspense . Suspense is “the sense of growing tension,fear, and excitement felt by the reader” (95). Edgar Allen Poe and W.W. Jacobs create suspense throughout their short stories “The Tell-Tale Heart” and “The Monkey’s Paw”. Three techniques, these authors use to create suspense are ambiguous ending, the scaring techniques , and the setting.

Read More
625 Words | 3 Pages

Have you ever been reading a book and start to wonder “what happens next?” This is called suspense, a state or feeling of excited or anxious uncertainty about what may happen. These stories use suspense to help develop the overall tone of the two stories. “The Tell-Tale Heart”, by Edgar Allan Poe, and “The Monkey’s Paw, by W.W Jacobs, created a feeling of suspense by using cause-and-effect relationships by showing the characters’ feeling of something frightening might happen. First off, “The Monkey’s Paw” uses cause-and-effect relationships to cause tension or suspense.

Read More
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:

Read More
435 Words | 2 Pages

In the monkey’s paw was supernatural events. The suspense in the monkey’s paw was that sergeant major Morris goes to tell the people in the house about the monkey’s paw, and shows the paw , and tells them

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
753 Words | 4 Pages

The film clip states, "but I only could only recognize him from his clothes." (1:39-1:42) This quote wasn't mentioned in the text, but has deep significance with how Mr. White actually feels about bringing Herbert back to life. Both versions of "The Monkey's Paw" emphasize suspense but one can infer that the film adaptation of "The Monkey's Paw" by Ricky Lewis Jr is more thrilling, frightening, and tragic due to a visual representation of the story with suspense devices, such as lighting, camera angles, filters, and music.

Read More
401 Words | 2 Pages

In addition to vivid language, Jacobs also employs foreshadowing and symbolism to heighten the suspense and tension. For example, when the family first receives the monkey's paw, Jacobs describes it as "mummified," foreshadowing the curse that it carries. "His tones were so grave that a hush fell upon the group, and a feeling of terror crept over them as if they were haunted by a sense of unseen menace. It was not until his visitors rose to depart that he... [took] the monkey's paw, and... threw it upon the fire. White, with a slight cry, stooped down and snatched it off" (Jacobs 4).

Read More
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.

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

Suspense, the state of tension, anxiety, and uncertainty, like waiting for an outcome that comes very slow. Authors usually create suspense by using story elements. In the story “The Monkeys Paw” by W.W. Jacobs, he uses story elements such as foreshadowing, conflict, and surprise ending. Foreshadowing is one of the biggest ways that expresses suspense in the story. For example Sergeant Major Morris states that the first owner of the paw wished for death.

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
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 Suspense In The Monkey's Paw

Related Topics

Open Document