ipl-logo

The Monkey's Paw Essay

656 Words3 Pages

“If everyone demanded peace instead of another television set, then there'd be peace.” - John Lennon. John Lennon said this because the world focuses too much on what they want instead of looking at what we already have and what we really need. The stories “The Necklace” and “The Monkey’s Paw” share the theme of materialism. In both stories, the main characters learn about materialism and how what they have may not make them worse off than better. The Monkey’s Paw is about the White family, consisting of Mr., Mrs., and the son Herbert White, aquiring a monkey’s paw that has a curse on it that lets the family ask three wishes. The family uses one wish to get 200,000 dollars. But this wish comes with a price, as Herbert dies in machinery at work, the family is given 200,000 dollars as a compensation. Greifstricken, Mrs. White uses the second wish a little over a week later to bring Herbert back to life. When Herbert came knocking on the door moments later, Mr. White realized that he would come back in his machine-tost form. He quiclky took the paw and wished Herbert back dead. The Necklace is …show more content…

This is revealed to the reader in the characterization of each story. In The Monkey’s Paw, Mr. White and Herbert start out the story as greedy, taking advantage of the chance to get money through means of a magical paw. At the end of the story, they realize that they saw what they needed and didn’t appreciate what they already had. In The Necklace, the woman only sees what she doesn’t have, money and fancy clothes. After 10 years of hard work, she accepts that she has all that she needs in her husband and the life that she has. “The Monkey’s Paw” and “The Necklace” both habe the theme of materialism and how people take they have for granted. It’s human nature for anyone to want what they can’t have, whether it’s money or clothing, but looking back at the things they have and being greatful will be the best thing for anyone to

Show More
Related
161 Words | 1 Pages

"The Monkey's Paw" by W.W Jacobs in narrated through a third person viewpoint. This story is laced full of foreshadowing and has creepy tones that tie in with the eery sounding title. The author was able to talk about serious topics of the time while still being entertaining and still being catagorized into the horror genre. The story begins with a family having a good time in a cozy cottage out in the middle of nowhere and an unexpected visitor appears knocking at their door. The man presents them an Indian monkey's paw and he claims it has the power to grant three different users, three different wishes.

Read More
2065 Words | 9 Pages

(AGG) " Once you need less, you have more"- Anonymous (Quotes Native); Materialism takes over people 's lives and makes them want more, but this doesn 't necessarily mean that they are happy with more material. (BS-1) Materialism can be seen through interactions between characters and have become a part of everyday life. (BS-2) Materialism is also a major part of society itself, the people in power want others to have material. (BS-3) When people get away from material, they find happiness, which is what materialistic people have been looking for all along; but they are looking in the wrong place.

Read More
692 Words | 3 Pages

In the story, “The Monkey’s Paw”, the White’s acquire a monkey’s paw from an old friend. The friend reveals that the paw is considered magic and then gives it to the Whites, starting a chain of events that brings sorrow to the family. However, just who is responsible for the misfortune that came to the Whites? Sergeant-

Read More
687 Words | 3 Pages

Want VS. Need “To be happy in life you must learn the difference between what you want vs need” (unknown). Most people who can not decipher between want and need don not appreciate life and objects to the fullest. An imbalance of these things can cause unhappiness, bad relationships, and debt. Deciding between things people want and what is need can be hard.

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

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
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

"The Monkey's Paw" is a short story by W.W. Jacobs tells the story of a family who comes into possession of a cursed monkey's paw that grants wishes, but with deadly consequences. The story's tone is somewhat ominous, evoking a sense of dread as the characters unfold the dark forces unleashed by the paw. Through his use of great imagery and foreshadowing Jacobs creates a really suspenseful atmosphere that grips readers from beginning to the end of the story. The tone in the "The Monkey's Paw" is established from the beginning of the story. Jacobs uses vivid and evocative language to describe the setting and characters, creating a sense of unease.

Read More
312 Words | 2 Pages

Mr ans Mrs became the owner of the monkey’s paw that grants three wishes. The first wish was for 300 pounds but, their son Herbert died later that day. After that, Mr and Mrs White received 300 pounds as compensation from Herbert 's work. From lines 369 to 390 Mrs White wishes for Herbert to return back, when Herbert knocked on the door the suspense grew and when they saw he

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
745 Words | 3 Pages

Greed is a terrible thing that can tear family and friendships apart. The Whites’ greed killed their son, Herbert, because of their greed. But they didn’t know that their actions would cause his death. They family wished for 200 pounds (277.74 American dollars). In the short story the Monkey’s Paw, the Whites learned that greed can bring consequences that both are good and bad.

Read More
626 Words | 3 Pages

“We are spinning our own fates, good or evil, never to be undone” - William James. The story, “The Monkey’s Paw”, by W. W. Jacobs is about the horrors the White family encounters from wishing on the monkey’s paw. The first wish was for money, and that came true with the death of the family’s son. The second was for the son to come back alive, and the third was for the son to go back to the grave. Throughout the story, it is shown that Mr. White had the largest contribution to the family’s misfortune.

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
649 Words | 3 Pages

“Words have no power to impress the mind without the exquisite horror of their reality”-Edgar Allan Poe. All great horror stories represent that quote. There is one story that does not. “The Monkey’s Paw” by W.W. Jacobs is not a horror story because there is not a monster, it is not believable, and it does not have a creepy setting. Classic horror stories usually have some sort of a monster in it, whether the monster is Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde or Frankenstein.

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 The Monkey's Paw Essay

Related Topics

Open Document