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The Monkeys Paw Analysis

Categories: Short Story The Monkey'S Paw

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Published: Mar 5, 2024

Words: 466 | Page: 1 | 3 min read

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‘The Monkey’s Paw’: Be Careful What You Wish For! Essay

‘The Monkey Paws’ is a horror story written by W. W. Jacobs in 1902. The main characters are Mr. and Mrs. White, Herbert and Sergeant-major Morris. The writer has interrelated important moral messages of family life and interwove basic life skills using artistic fables, figurative language, and unknown horror. Hence, the story ‘The Monkey’s Paw’ symbolically warns its audience to be extra careful about what they wish and never expect something from anything.

W. W. Jacobs pens down this fateful story unveiling various curses that befall the main characters in response to their wishes. The story opens on a rainy evening. Mr. White and Herbert are playing chase in the parlor. Mr. White tries to pretend when he loses the game. Later, Sergeant-major Morris’s footsteps are heard by Mr. White from the inside. With happiness, Sergeant-major he is welcome into the parlor with the courtesy of some drinks. He then narrates his adventures in India to entertain the family. Mr. White interrupts Sergeant-major Morris’ wonderful narration. He inquires more about the Monkey’s Paw! This is where we learn of the magic power of the Monkey’s Paw in granting wishes. With much enticing, Sergeant-Major Morris gives in to tell a brief history of the monkey’s paw origin and the previous weird owner. A dramatic scene of trying to burn the paw ensues and later the Monkey’s paw remains with Mr. White. Sergeant-major Morris sternly warns the Whites of the unpalatable consequences they will certainly encounter just like the last owner. The symbols like Monkey’s Paw and Chess are artistically used in the story to tell a story that warns one to be careful about what he wishes for.

In the first part of the story, Mr. White becomes more inquisitive. He wants to know a lot about the paw of a strange talisman. This same paw attributes to his encounter of fateful curses from his wishes. This downfall is clearly illustrated by their greedy need of wishing for additional material that is meaningless. Jacobs captures Mr. White’s serene home which is satisfactorily comfortable. Mr. White doubts the power of the paw and this makes him make unnecessary wishes. Here we learn the need to be careful of strange desires in life and be contented with what we already have. W. W. Jacobs uses Monkey’s paw to symbolize the greed and desire that haunts us in life. We see the alluring chances of attaining prestigious things in life with the least effort. The deceptive gift power of the monkeys warns of the lazy people who want something from nothing. Hence, this creates a potential warning of the dangers of wishing for seductive material (money) in life.

W. W. Jacobs breaks his story into three symbolic parts. This is a reflection of using his groups of threes, that is, three wishes, three family members, three owners of the Monkey’s paw, and a company agent approaches the house three times. All this symbolizes the unnatural events that occur in their life. The first part contains the conspicuous chess play between Herbert and his father. It is a risky game. The riskiness in life in which Mr. White engages his family and himself conforms to radical changes they encounter. The last parts show the domestic clash in Mr. White’s family that was disturbed by the arrival of a friend from strange lands.

Mr. White does not have cautious approach towards the paw. Ironically this makes him encounter horrific changes in life. W.W. Jacobs focuses mostly on the subject matter and we learn that the story ‘The Monkey’s Paw’ symbolically warns its audience to be extra careful about what they wish and never expect something from anything.

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IvyPanda. (2022, January 1). ‘The Monkey’s Paw’: Be Careful What You Wish For! https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-monkeys-paw-be-careful-what-you-wish-for/

"‘The Monkey’s Paw’: Be Careful What You Wish For!" IvyPanda , 1 Jan. 2022, ivypanda.com/essays/the-monkeys-paw-be-careful-what-you-wish-for/.

IvyPanda . (2022) '‘The Monkey’s Paw’: Be Careful What You Wish For'. 1 January.

IvyPanda . 2022. "‘The Monkey’s Paw’: Be Careful What You Wish For!" January 1, 2022. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-monkeys-paw-be-careful-what-you-wish-for/.

1. IvyPanda . "‘The Monkey’s Paw’: Be Careful What You Wish For!" January 1, 2022. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-monkeys-paw-be-careful-what-you-wish-for/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "‘The Monkey’s Paw’: Be Careful What You Wish For!" January 1, 2022. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-monkeys-paw-be-careful-what-you-wish-for/.