What Is The Significance Of Foreshadowing In The Monkey's Paw

An Analysis of “The Monkey’s Paw” What horrors can happen from changing one's fate? Fate is a force that can't be stopped, nor persuaded. W.W. Jacobs shows this with terrifying images in "The Monkey's Paw". Early events in the story foreshadow the future horrors, which makes them effective. W. W. Jacobs uses symbolism, foreshadowing, and imagery to show the consequences of taking charge of one's fate. Jacob's symbolism throughout the story adds to the sense of tragedy and horror in a convincing way. Carl Mowery, a literary critic, thought that the game of chess is a symbol of rules and order in the story. He expresses this when he says, "It is a symbolic of a set of rules, a strict order." The game of chess is like the basic set of rules that the family lives by. When they break one of these rules, everything in the story falls apart and the family is sent through chaos. The White family break a rule of this world by taunting fate with the wish from the paw. After they break this one rule they are cursed by fate. Mowery compares lights going out to the lost direction and hope when he say’s “The symbolism of lost direction and lost hope is seen in the candle and the match going out.” When they use the candle and the match it’s because they are in darkness. The candle and the match go

Jacob’s use of strong imagery creates a true sense of fear on the reader’s behalf. A powerful use of imagery in the story is with fire. Carl Mowery said, "Fire is often seen as a source of comfort and warmth. It is also seen as a purifying or a destroying element." The fire in the fireplace provides warmth, but it also burns wood and the Monkey’s paw. The pipe is smoked for comfort; however, it also destroys the tobacco. When the fire goes out it leaves them in darkness. When Jacob’s describes his scenes with such detail it really gets the reader into the story. When the reader is so drawn into the story, the book has a much bigger impact on their