A Rhetorical Analysis Of 'The Monkey's Paw'

Mr. White uses many words to describe the street where they live. Some of the words he used were, “beastly,” “slushy,” “out-of-the-way,” “bog,” and “torrent.”

Sergeant Major Morris threw the monkey’s paw in the fire because he thought the consequences that resulted from the wishes were worse than the good that could come from the wishes themselves. He didn’t want anyone else to have to face the horrid consequences that would result from wishing on the paw.

Herbert White’s attitude towards the monkey’s paw was negative. He said, “If the tale about the monkey’s paw is not more truthful than those he has been telling us, we shan’t make much of it.” He meant that he did not believe that the paw could actually grant wishes. He also burst
White made a wish the first time, he wished for two-hundred pounds. The money was going to be just enough to pay off the house where they lived.

Some of the foreshadowing clues about the well-dressed stranger’s message being negative are that he paused by their gate three times before he resolved to open it, like he was nervous about telling them his message, he seemed restless and fidgety, he took a few moments to compose his thoughts before he told them his message, he was sent by the business their son worked for, and he didn’t want to tell them his news.

The reader can make an inference that Mrs. White thinks the stranger is rich because he was well dressed and had a new silk hat. She also rushes around her home cleaning and apologizes about the mess. He might find a house like theirs shabby or unpresentable if he was snobby and very
He also fulfilled the Sergeant Major’s warning about the price of the wishes being worse than the good that would come from them. His death was the punishment for wishing for two-hundred pounds.

Mr. and Mrs. White got the two-hundred pounds as a compensation for their son, Herbert White’s death. A messenger from his workplace brought it to them.

Mr. White said that bringing back their son Herbert would be, “foolish and wicked,” because it could create terrible consequences. They would be foolish to think that there would not be consequences from their wish, and it would be wicked to bring back someone from the dead because he would still be gravely wounded and horrid to look at. It would also be wicked for a mother to look at her son with disgust and fear, for certainly if Mr. White could not recognize his own son because of his injuries, his mother would be the same way.

Mrs. White has power over her husband at the end of the story because her disappointment gave him the courage to go down the stairs to her. She also gave him hope because he knew her reaction meant his wish had come