Monkey's Paw

Irony, Foreshadowing, Theme, and Conflict in “The Monkey’s Paw”

Foreshadowing is a technique that authors use to drop hints or clues about what will happen later, thereby helping to build suspense and prepare readers for the outcome.

Examples of Foreshadowing:
1. p. 143 - When Mr. White and Herbert are playing a game of chess, Mr. White puts his king into “sharp and unnecessary perils” and makes a “fatal mistake.” His reckless moves in the chess game foreshadow how Mr. White puts himself and his family into a risky situation by buying the potentially destructive talisman and then making a wish that causes a fatal mistake – his son’s death.
2. p. 147 – “His blotchy face whitened.” This quote shows that the sergeant is disturbed by the three wishes he had previously made on the monkey’s paw, which foreshadows the disturbed state the Whites are in after they make their three wishes.
3. p. 148 - “If you keep it, don’t blame me for what happens. Pitch it on the fire again, like a sensible man” and “…but I warn you of the consequences.” These warnings by the sergeant foreshadow that something bad will happen to the family if they use the monkey’s paw and then Herbert dies in a work accident after the first wish.
4. p. 148 – “If you must wish, wish for something sensible.” This quote foreshadows that a foolish wish may be made, and then Mr. White foolishly wishes for his dead, mutilated son to be alive again as his second wish.
5. p. 149 - “And he pressed me again to throw it away.” The sergeant’s warning to Mr. White foreshadows that the monkey’s paw will bring danger to the family, and it does when Herbert dies in a machinery accident at work.
6. p. 150 – “As I wished it twisted in my hands like a snake.” The movement of the monkey’s paw foreshadows that the paw’s magical powers will actually work, as it seemed to do with all three wishes made by Mr. White (200 pounds, Herbert to be resurrected, and Herbert to be gone forever).
7. p. 150 - "Well I don't see the money," said his son as he picked it up and placed it on the table, "and I bet I never shall." This quote foreshadows the fact that Herbert will never see the 200 pounds (his family gets it as a settlement AFTER he is dead).
8. p. 153 – “She was watching the mysterious movements of a man outside, who, peering in a undecided fashion at the house, appeared to be trying to make up his mind to enter” and “She brought the stranger, who seemed ill at ease, into the room.” Both of these quotes foreshadow the horrible news the man from Maw and Meggins reluctantly delivers – that Herbert has died in a machinery accident at work.

Irony results when the outcome of a situation is opposite to what the reader might have expected, often creating a surprise ending or unusual twist to the plot.

Examples of Irony:

Examples of irony in “The Monkey’s Paw” are how …
1. a talisman (the monkey’s paw) – a charm to bring luck or protection – brings bad luck to the Whites and doesn’t protect their only son Herbert, who “dies” after the first wish is made!
2. Herbert suggests the first wish for 200 pounds to pay off the mortgage (a benefit to the family) and his parents end up getting a 200 pound settlement for his accidental death the next day (a tragedy for the family)!
3. the person who was the most skeptical of the power of the monkey’s paw and thought it was a joke (Herbert) ends up being the one and only White who is a recipient of its “power”!
4. Mr. White wishes for 200 pounds for his first wish and then the settlement money for Herbert’s death ends up being the exact same amount!
5. Mr. White is the one who is the most intrigued by the monkey’s paw at first, yet he didn’t make a wish of HIS OWN until the third and final wish (Herbert suggests the first wish and Mrs. White demands the second wish)!
6. Mr. White “unwishes” the second wish (for Herbert to be alive) with his third wish (for Herbert to be gone); Mr. White wishes for Herbert to come back and then subsequently wishes him to go away.
7. Mr. White’s wish to undo his wife’s wish for their son’s return – which could be considered as cruel and heartless to her – is actually an act of mercy for them since Herbert could return in a mutilated state.
8. Mrs. White asks Mr. White, “How could two hundred pounds hurt you, father?” and then both Mr. and Mrs. White are terribly hurt when they receive the two hundred pounds as settlement money for their son Herbert’s death.
9. Mrs. White shows her skepticism of the monkey’s paw when she said, “The ideas of our listening to such nonsense! How could wishes be granted in these days?” You don’t expect her to believe in its power, but then she forces her husband to make the second wish (to bring back Herbert from the grave).
Theme is the message about life the author is trying to give to the reader; it is the moral of the story.

A major theme of “The Monkey’s Paw” is summed up in the following quote on page 146: “He (the fakir) wanted to show that fate ruled people’s lives, and that those who interfered with it did so to their sorrow.” In simpler words: Anyone who messes with fate will be sorry!

This theme is made evident in “The Monkey’s Paw” in these ways:

1. The first person who wished upon the monkey’s paw used his last wish to ask for death. Messing with fate = death/misfortune

2. Mr. White messes with his family’s fate by purchasing the monkey’s paw from Sergeant Major-Morris, despite being warned of its potentially dangerous powers. Then Herbert White (the son) suggests that his father make the first wish for 200 pounds to pay off their mortgage. Ironically, Herbert ends up dying in an accident at his work the next day, and the settlement offered by his company is 200 pounds. Messing with fate = death/misfortune

3. Mr. White then wishes for Herbert to be alive again at his wife’s urging (without specifying that he wants him back in his normal, non-mutilated state). After realizing his mistake when the knocking begins, he uses up his last wish to wish Herbert back to the grave. After using up all three wishes, Mr. White is left with a useless monkey’s paw and a dead son. Messing with fate = death/misfortune

Other possible themes for “The Monkey’s Paw” are as follows:

Be careful what you wish for!

Hasty and careless decisions may lead to bad consequences.

Greed will lead to misfortune; be satisfied with what you have.

If something looks or seems too good to be true, it probably is.

Perspective can be distorted by a person’s imagination and emotions.

Conflict is the main problem in the plot; it is something that the character struggles with, either internally (inside) or externally (outside).

1) INTERNAL Conflict (character vs. SELF) - when a character struggles with thoughts, feelings, and fears (inside the character). Examples of character vs. SELF:
i) Mr. White struggles with his fears before making the second wish to bring Herbert back to life. He is afraid that his son will return in the mutilated state in which he was buried: “The talisman was in its place, and a horrible fear that the unspoken wish might bring his mutilated son before him ere he could escape from the room seized upon him.” (Jacobs 158). ii) Mr. White struggles with his fears after making the second wish: “The talisman fell to the floor, and he regarded it shudderingly” (Jacobs 159). iii) Mr. White struggles with his fears after he hears the knocking on the door; he fears that his second wish has been granted and that Herbert (in his mutilated state) is the one knocking at the door: “The matches fell from his hand. He stood motionless, his breath suspended until the knock was repeated. Then he turned and fled swiftly back to his room, and closed the door behind him” (Jacobs 160). Another example is illustrated by this quote: “’For God’s sake don’t let it in,’” cried the old man, trembling” (Jacobs 161).

2) EXTERNAL Conflict (character vs. CHARACTER, NATURE, SOCIETY, SUPERNATURAL/FATE) - when a character struggles with something outside himself/herself
a) Example of character vs. SUPERNATURAL/FATE: The wishes (changing fate) made on the monkey’s paw (a supernatural talisman) cause problems for Mr. and Mrs. White: they lose their son Herbert after the first wish is made. Their distress after hearing the news of Herbert’s death is evidenced by this quote: “Unconscious of his wife’s shriek, the old man smiled faintly, put out his hands like a sightless man, and dropped, a senseless heap, to the floor” (Jacobs 156).
b) Example of character vs. SOCIETY: Mr. White faints after the representative from Maw and Meggins (Herbert’s place of employment) tells him, “They (Maw and Meggins) admit no liability at all, but in consideration of your son’s services they wish to present you with a certain sum as compensation” (Jacobs 155). Maw and Meggins is an example of a larger group (society) because it is a company. Unfortunately for the Whites, this company refuses to accept any responsibility for the accident which killed Herbert. When Mr. White fainted, he showed his distress over his son’s death plus the company’s 200 pound settlement, which was the exact same amount as his first wish!
c) Example of character vs. CHARACTER: Mr. and Mrs. White have a physical struggle after Mr. White makes the second wish and they hear the knocking on the door. Mr. White physically restrains his wife to keep her from going to the door to let Herbert in. This example of conflict is illustrated by these quotes: “She ran to the door, but her husband was before her, and catching her by the arm, held her tightly” (Jacobs 160) and “The old woman with a sudden wrench broke free and ran from the room” (Jacobs 161).
d) Example of character vs. NATURE: Mr. White is struggling to find the monkey’s paw in the dark to make his third and final wish. The darkness (an element of nature) is preventing him from quickly making his wish, and he must make it BEFORE his wife opens the door to let his mutilated son Herbert inside the house. Mr. White’s struggle with nature is illustrated in this quote: “But her husband was on his hands and knees groping wildly on the floor in search of the paw. If he could only find it before the thing outside got in” (Jacobs 161).
W. W. (William Wymark) Jacobs was born in 1863 in London, England, to an impoverished family. His mother, Sophia, died when Jacobs was a young boy. His father, William Jacobs, managed a wharf in South Devon. After receiving his degree from Birkbeck College, the satirical magazines the Idler and Today published some of his stories in the early 1890s. Jacobs’s first short-story collection, Many Cargoes (1896), won popular acclaim, prompting him to quit working as a clerk and begin writing full-time. Jacobs wed Agnes Eleanor, a prominent suffragette, in 1900, and they had five children together.

The success of Jacobs’s fiction enabled him to escape his scrappy, hard-luck childhood and dull life as a civil servant. His early experiences benefited him greatly, however. He had spent a lot of time hanging around the wharves in London, and many of his short stories and novels concern seamen’s lives and adventures. Jacobs’s works include The Skipper’s Wooing (1897), Sea Urchins (1898), Light Freights (1901), Captains’ All (1902), Sailors’ Knots (1909), and Night Watches (1914). All told, Jacobs published thirteen collections of short stories, five novels, and a novella, many of which sold tens of thousands of copies. He also wrote a number of one-act plays. His financial security was further solidified by the popular Strand magazine, which began publishing Jacobs’s short stories in 1898 and continued to do so throughout much of his life. Jacobs died in 1943.

While modern readers associate Jacobs primarily with his suspenseful and frequently anthologized short story “The Monkey’s Paw” and, to a lesser degree, with his short story “The Toll House,” his contemporaries primarily knew him as a comic writer. Like many comic writers of the day, Jacobs explored the lives of the lower and middle classes and published many of his stories in magazines directed at this audience. The novellas At Sunwich Port (1902) and Dialstone Lane (1904) exemplify his ability to create humorous scenarios with vivid characters. Jerome K. Jerome, a popular comic novelist of the day, was a great fan of Jacobs’s and praised his strong work ethic and painstaking approach. He said that Jacobs would often rewrite just one sentence for hours at a stretch. Many luminaries of literature have praised Jacob’s work, including G. K. Chesterton, Henry James, Evelyn Waugh, P. G. Wodehouse, and Mark Twain.

“The Monkey’s Paw” was published in Jacobs’s short-story collection The Lady of the Barge (1902), and the story’s popularity has been extraordinarily long-lasting. The story has been included in approximately seventy collections, from horror and gothic anthologies to the New York Review of Books’ collection of classic fiction. The story has also been turned into a play, parodied on The Simpsons, and made into eight separate movies. Stephen King wrote about “The Monkey’s Paw” in The Dead Zone (1979) and Apt Pupil (1982) and based his novel Pet Sematary (1983) on its themes. The spare but colorful characterization of the White family, fascination with wishing and wishing gone awry, and story’s mix of humor and terror have made “The Monkey’s Paw” popular with generations of readers.