The Monkey's Paw Essay

“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

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