"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.
Comments
Post a Comment