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"The Monkey's Paw" by W.W. Jacobs





                                                      "The Monkey's Paw" is a supernatural short storynby author W. W. Jacobs first published in England in 1902.

                     The story, set in Britain, begins with Mr. White and his son, Herbert, playing a game of chess where Herbert puts his dad in checkmate. It shows that this is "an ordinary night." It doesn't remain "ordinary" for long, because a man by the name of Sergeant-Major Morris comes to the house with a monkey's paw, willing to give it to them. This paw provides the bearer with three wishes on anything they wish. Sergeant-Major inherited this paw from the man before him, who used his three wishes, the only one that was known was that his third wish was for death. This is a clear sign of trouble, provided that the first two wishes were more than likely intended for one thing but resulted in something so drastic and painful that his life became so unbearable and death was the only freedom. Sergeant-Major even mentions that it was created to assert the power of fate. The paw was a test in which the bearer would try to interfere with fate, but instead end up in a situation far worse than before. The overall moral is to not play with fate.

                    The White family tests out the paw's powers and wish for two hundred pounds, which should be enough to clear all of the payments that they have to put up with. They wonder where the money will pop up and Herbert finds it to be quite hysterical that this is a strange situation. The next day, Herbert heads off to work for the last time. Later on, someone is sent to inform Mr. and Mrs. White that Herbert was killed in a machinery accident. For compensation, the company provided them with... two hundred pounds. The first wish has been granted, but with a cost. The Whites expected the money to just pop up out of thin air, but instead, the money has come about as sympathy money from a company in which Herbert worked due to an accident that took his life. Things aren't going so well...

                    Full of sadness over Herbert's death, Mr. and Mrs. White bury him in the cemetery two miles from their home. One night Mrs. White gets a bright idea: use those other two wishes to bring Herbert back! She shares her plan with Mr. White. He thinks it's a bad idea – he could barely look at Herbert's mangled body when he went to identify it. His wife really turns up the heat, though, and he caves in. Mr. White pulls out the cursed monkey's paw and wishes Herbert back to life.

                   Nothing happens, so the Whites go back to bed. Soon after, someone – or something – starts pounding on the door.  Mrs. White is sure it's Herbert – it just took him a minute to get there from the cemetery. Mr. White is sure it's Herbert too, and he doesn't want his son to get in the house, so he makes his third wish on the monkey's paw. The knocking stops. Mr. White hears Mrs. White open the door. He hears her scream out in agony because Herbert is not there. He goes outside with her and sees that the road is completely empty.

                   The “Monkey's Paw” is a story about a mystical charm, a monkey's paw, that is brought into the home of the White family by Sergeant Major Morris, who has served in the Army. The monkey's paw has the ability to grant 3 wishes to 3 people, but it has a bad consequence that happens before the real wish comes true. S.M. Morris was the 2nd owner, the 1st owner's 3rd wish was for death. The White family still wants the monkey paw even though they know the 1st person’s last wish was death! Not a smart The “Monkey's Paw” is a story about a mystical charm, a monkey's paw, that is brought into the home of the White family by Sergeant Major Morris, who has served in the Army. The monkey's paw has the ability to grant 3 wishes to 3 people, but it has a bad consequence that happens before the real wish comes true. S.M. Morris was the 2nd owner, the 1st owner's 3rd wish was for death. The White family still wants the monkey paw even though they know the 1st person’s last wish was death! Not a smart move on the White’s family. There is a lot of stuff that the story does to make you intrigued and makes you want to read more of the story it’s a good story for people all ages and I really liked the short story.

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