The Monkey's Paw Analysis

“The Fat Man” and “The Monkey’s Paw” Upon reading the two short stories, “The Fat Man” and ‘The Monkey’s Paw”, I have found many differences and few similarities. With the stories both being from the same genre, horror, I thought they would have more in common. Turns out, different subgenres really do make a difference. “The Fat Man” fits very well in the weird tales subgenre, while “The Monkey’s Paw” fits more into the gothic subgenre. Both very different subgenres. In the short story “The Fat Man”, the features of the horror genre and the weird tales subgenre are very much there. The strange aspects of the story include: the oath on a dead cat, the Fat Man singing from the pit of his stomach, and his collection of marionettes. His collection of marionettes (being actual human beings) turned out to qualify for both genres. The prominent feature of the horror genre would be how the Fat Man’s half-moon tattoo turns out to be the mouth to a terrifying carnivore. The Fat Man seems like a lonely, innocent man at first, until Harold and Joe found out his secret. Being both in the horror genre and the gothic subgenre, “The Monkey’s Paw” shows “classic” horror, and heavy emphasis on the supernatural. The gothic subgenre is really emphasized as the story
Joe and Harold enter the Fat Man’s house with curiosity about the Fat Man. They end up stumbling upon his marionettes of people they know. The Fat Man then chases Joe and Harold, kills Joe and most likely Harold. In “The Monkey’s Paw”, the conflict resides internally between Mr. and Mrs. White and themselves. The grief from Mr. White’s wish killing his son, really bothers him. He tries to rid his sins by wishing what’s left of his son away after he has wished him back. Mrs. White is devastated by her son’s death and goes as far as having her husband wish her mangled son back to life. Her transformation is an upsetting change and makes her