Ms. Oleksyshyn
ENG2D1
15 October 2013
The Monkey's Paw W.W Jacob's the Monkey's Paw has some very distinctive differences when placed in direct comparison with the film adaptation. In the short film, it seems that various aspects of the story do no hold true to the original story. A few of the more noticeable changes include the scenes, dialog, and the addition of the occasional slips humour from the characters. The story according to W.W Jacobs begins in the parlour of Laburnam, midst the Villa forest. In the film the story begins with a shamanistic ritual depicting the paw's dark enchantment followed by a speeding passenger train, assumingly on its way to Laburnam; Sergeant-Major Morris undoubtedly onboard.
The original dialog in the story contains very little traces of interest or enthusiasm in the conversations held between the Whites and Sergeant Morris when discussing such a marvelous artifact. In the film, with the aid of visual descriptions, we are able to sense a lot more interest and enthusiasm in the artifact through the character's expressions as well as tones of voice. Although in the story traces of humour are evident, they are not very profound. In the film, the sense of humour is very well represented through Herbert White, joking with the Whites about wishing for two hundred pounds. The story created a great sense of suspense and excitement, to the best that could be done in writing. In the film the addition of scenes and character personalities helped to better stage an atmosphere of dread and gloom, in perfect accordance to the background music. In conclusion, there are several distinct differences in both versions of the story; it is left up to the reader to decide which version best suits their unique preference.