An Analysis of the Monkey's Paw
Joseph Gudino
The Monkey's Paw Literary Response
The short story , The Monkey's Paw , was a chilling novel about the White family (Mr. White , Mrs. White , Herbert )and how they used a talisman to change there fate , but not for what they had hoped for . The author introduces this story on a cold , wet night which gives a suspensful feeling to the novel at first hand . While the White's are spending time together in a small parlor , they get a visit from Mr. White's old friend , sergeant Major Morris . One major element W.W Jacobs portrays is foreshadowing . Of the characters , the author uses Major Morris the most to foreshadow the events that may occur later on in the novel . While Major Morris is visiting , Mr. White asks him to resume telling the tale of a monkey's paw , but the sergeant seemed reluctant to do so . He also stated "Leastways nothing worth hearing . " With this statement , you can infer that for some reason Major Morris did not want to tell the story . The family became more curious . Eventually he gave in and began telling the tale . Major Morris pulled a dried up monkey's paw out of his pocket . He said that an old fakir put a curse upon the paw which enabled it to grant 3 wishes . This curse was used to prove a point that fate controls people's lives and that one's self should not try to change their fate or there would be harsh consequences . Major Morris said he was granted 3 wishes himself and also knew of another man who used the monkey's paw . He said that he didn't know the mans first two wishes but he did know his last wish was for death . This foreshadows that the monkey's paw can easily be the down fall of a person . As Major Morris continued , he said he did not want the paw to cause anymore harm so he threw the paw in the fire . Mr. White saved the paw because he was still curious . The sergeant warned him a couple times but finally explained how to wish upon the paw . The family joked about the talisman and wished
The Monkey's Paw Literary Response
The short story , The Monkey's Paw , was a chilling novel about the White family (Mr. White , Mrs. White , Herbert )and how they used a talisman to change there fate , but not for what they had hoped for . The author introduces this story on a cold , wet night which gives a suspensful feeling to the novel at first hand . While the White's are spending time together in a small parlor , they get a visit from Mr. White's old friend , sergeant Major Morris . One major element W.W Jacobs portrays is foreshadowing . Of the characters , the author uses Major Morris the most to foreshadow the events that may occur later on in the novel . While Major Morris is visiting , Mr. White asks him to resume telling the tale of a monkey's paw , but the sergeant seemed reluctant to do so . He also stated "Leastways nothing worth hearing . " With this statement , you can infer that for some reason Major Morris did not want to tell the story . The family became more curious . Eventually he gave in and began telling the tale . Major Morris pulled a dried up monkey's paw out of his pocket . He said that an old fakir put a curse upon the paw which enabled it to grant 3 wishes . This curse was used to prove a point that fate controls people's lives and that one's self should not try to change their fate or there would be harsh consequences . Major Morris said he was granted 3 wishes himself and also knew of another man who used the monkey's paw . He said that he didn't know the mans first two wishes but he did know his last wish was for death . This foreshadows that the monkey's paw can easily be the down fall of a person . As Major Morris continued , he said he did not want the paw to cause anymore harm so he threw the paw in the fire . Mr. White saved the paw because he was still curious . The sergeant warned him a couple times but finally explained how to wish upon the paw . The family joked about the talisman and wished