At the end of The Monkey and the Monk, the pilgrims acquire the scriptures and, thus, fulfill the task of their journey and please Bodhisattva. Yet, she points out that “within our order of Buddhism, nine times nine is the crucial means by which one returns to immortality. The sage monk has undergone eighty ordeals. Because one ordeal, therefore, is still lacking, the sacred number is not yet complete.”(Wu Cheng’en, 470) Even though the sage monk performed tasks that were supposed to lead to immortality, Bodhisattva suddenly says that his deeds were not sufficient unless the pilgrims performed one more ordeal for the perfect number of sufferings. This behavior of Guanyin is problematic – why would she suddenly insist…
The Monkey's Paw by W.W. Jacobs is a story of misfortune. The author uses foreshadowing in the story to build tension, and suspense to keep the reader entertained. W.W. Jacob does this by creating certain plot twists, and pacing the story rapidly but still having lots of detail. This book reminds me of being careful for what I wish for and lessons learned. The story begins with the main character, Mr. White, receiving a monkey's paw from a friend.…
The best laid schemes of mice and men, go often askew, and leave us nothing but grief and pain for promised joy. There are some factors in life you cannot control or plan for. People make a map of how they want and need to reach your goals, but there is always a stronger or unpredictable power to throw you right off you’re path. This theme from “To a Mouse” is universal. Big Lannie, from the short story “Clothe the Naked”, is a strong, caring and loving woman. Who always makes the brightest of plans for her children and grandson’s, Raymond, futures. But the force that ruins her dreams of Raymond’s joy, is prejudice, due to her African American heritage and ignorance. And then there is Doodle, from the short story “The Scarlet Ibis”, this poor…
W.W. Jacobs wrote “The monkey’s paw” a very eerie that shows how one choice can change your life forever. In the story Mr.White plays a father who makes some unwise decisions. One night a normal family was talking to a sergeant while playing a game of chess. Everything was going well until they pulled out the monkey's paw. This mysterious creatures hand would give three wishes to whoever asked for them. Now, the is always a twist when trying to get what you want. Mr.White made three wishes, the first one he thought would be completely harmless just 200 pounds. This innocent wish turned into his son dying and his life changing. Throughout the story Mr.White changed a lot, his passive and fearful attitude pushed him to make the wishes he did,…
I remember one time I was talking with my friend about what we would wish for if we had 3 wishes. I said “I wish I would get $1,000,000!” and then he started talking about how horrible it would be if there were consequences. Which got me thinking, “If I got $1,000,000 through a wish with a horrible consequence it would probably be that someone stole that money from a bank and threw it in my car or people in my family died.”…
“The Monkey’s Paw” is a story about a friend going to the White’s house and gives them a monkey paw. The Monkey’s Paw granted them 3 wishes that didn’t go as planned. “The Necklace” is a story about a poor girl who wanted more in life. When she was dishonest her life only got worse. “The Monkey’s Paw” and “The Necklace” show that being thankful for what you have will only make you a better person and take you further, but if you are greedy and selfish you will never reach your destination.…
Simon, a Christ-like figure in Lord of the Flies, is a significant example in proving that humans are essentially good. For example, Simon cares about the well-being of the other boys: "...he turned to the poor broken thing that sat stinking by his side. The beast was harmless and horrible; and the news must reach the others as soon as possible" (Golding 147). Simon wants the other boys to be aware of the dangers that are actually facing them on the island so the boys do not put themselves or other boys in danger over a made up entity while they are trying to survive on the island. He does not want anyone to be overexerting themselves to try to kill the fictitious beast. Simon shows generosity when he volunteers to hike across the island: "'Someone's got to go across the island and tell Piggy we'll be back after dark.' ...Simon pushed his way to Ralph's elbow. 'I'll go if you like. I don't mind, honestly'" (Golding 117). Simon possesses a helpful nature even faced with the difficult task of surviving on an island with multiple other boys. Perhaps he volunteers to save the other boys from the trouble of this long walk. Simon proves that humans are essentially good by showing generosity and care while the act of the other boys forming friendships also proves humans are good.…
Many people would believe that the Sergeant is to blame for the monkey's paw, but when it really is, it’s Mr. White’s own fault. Mr. White from The Monkey’s Paw by W.W. Jacobs, and is very much to blame, even more so than the Sergeant. The story focuses on a family who took a monkey's paw from a man, leading up to the unfortunate main events that took place. It starts with a man visiting Mr. White’s home in unlikely weather.…
The themes of this story are both trust and loyalty. For example one example is of loyalty is on page 354. On page 354, Willie gives the man a piece of pound cake. After that, the man said” Bless you” to Willie. Willie gave the man the piece of pound cake because he felt bad for the man.…
In the novel Treasure Island, written by Robert Louis Stevenson, a young boy named Jim Hawkins must battle against a group of mutineers on an island, risking the life of himself and his friends, in order to be the first to find Captain Flint’s hidden treasure. The characters’ decisions and traits in Treasure Island demonstrate the theme of greed. Greed is a constant and inordinate craving, want, or desire for money or possessions; solely for the interests and pleasures of oneself that is often times never satisfying. In this novel, Robert Louis Stevenson uses the theme of greed through the decisions and character traits of Long John Silver, Israel Hands, and George Merry to teach readers to be content and happy with what you do have, by describing…
1. I think the importance of this story is to show haw good person is Mr. Thompson. Not many people can be so generous or kind a giving person likes him. Mr. Thompson it seems a very sharing person and I think he likes to help people and he had a very good feelings for those who is around him. Gesture that made Mr. Thompson is very plausible and I think it is a rare example for the rich people who do not love nothing else than their money.…
An obvious part of the story that supports the theme is when Mr. White makes his first wish. At first unsure of what to wish for, Herbert – clearly skeptical of the paw’s magical abilities – suggests to wish for 200 pounds to pay the mortgage. When the next day comes around and the two hundred pounds Mr. White wished for isn’t there, Herbert and Mrs. White are not surprised. Mr. White tells them that people often mistake coincidence for granted wishes. They then go about their day as usual, with Herbert leaving for work and Mr. and Mrs. White staying home. Hours later, a stranger comes knocking at their door to tell the Whites that their son had died in an accident at his work, and gave them 200 pounds as compensation.…
“Suffering has been stronger than all other teaching, and has taught me to understand what your heart used to be” (Dickens 284). The three major themes of Great Expectations by Charles Dickens are social status and character, growing pains, and revenge.…
The short stories “The Third Wish” written by Joan Aiken and “Those Three Wishes” written by Judith Gorog share the main similarity of having a three wishes motif. These two stories may share a similar motif, but they differ in several important aspects. “The Third Wish” and “Those Three Wishes” differ in the way the story is told. Also, “The Third Wish” and “Those Three Wishes” are different, because they use the three wishes motif in different ways. Last but not least, the stories have a different plot line. In “The Third Wish”, the story starts off with Mr. Peters driving through a forest and overhearing a commotion. Mr. Peters finds the King of the Forest in swan form trapped in thorns. He frees the King of the Forest and receives three wishes in return. After receiving his three wishes, he wishes for a wife as beautiful as the forest. The next morning, he meets his new wife Leita. At first, everything is going great between him and Leita, but he soon finds out that Leita is actually a swan that is separated from her sister. One day, Mr. Peters feels sorry for Leita and wishes she was a swan again. Then, Leita is reunited with her sister, and Mr. Peters grew old and died peacefully without ever using the third wish. On the other hand, the short story “Those Three Wishes” has a much different plot line. The story begins with Melinda Alice walking to school early and alone so she could study for her math test. She came along a snail and wanted to crush it. When she was about to crush it, the snail gave her three wishes in order to spare its life. Melinda uses her first wish to make sure her next thousand wishes come true. While walking to school, Melinda starts to contemplate uses for her wishes. Melinda ends up using her second wish to wish that she was always perfectly dressed and she used her third wish to get pierced ears and small gold earrings. After her third wish, Melinda begins to relieve the power of the wishes and considers using her wishes to solve…
The theme selflessness first appears in The Third Wish when Mr. Peters saves a swan. First, Mr. Peters makes sure this swan is fine. For instance, the text says, “ Mr. Peters wanted to make sure that the swan was all right and had suffered no Injuries in its struggles.” Mr. Peters wants to make sure that the swan is okay. even if he doesn't know he will get three wishes.…