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Symbolism In The Monkey's Paw By W. Jacobs

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The White family plays a dangerous game with risks that result in deadly consequences. The suspense is created when the White family, Mr.White, Mrs.White, and their son, Herbert, sit in their secluded home awaiting a guest on a dark and stormy night. The guest arrives, his name is Sergeant Major Morris and he brings stories of his travels in India and also that he has in his possession a monkey's paw which is said to be able to grant three wishes to its owner. The man no longer wishes to possess this item so he throws it away. Despite his warnings, Mr. White retrieves the paw and uses the first wish to ask for 200 pounds to pay off his house. Indeed, he receives the money but in the most unusual way. Their son was the victim of a horrible …show more content…

Jacobs in the direction of effectively introducing the theme. Through the story, the monkey’s paw serves as a powerful symbol of desire and greed. The power that comes with the paw is very tempting even to unselfish people who want nothing and have everything they need. Everything that its owner could possibly wish for is unrestricted. The author demonstrates the avarice that Mr. White has by saying, “He took the paw, and dangled it between his front finger and thumb, suddenly threw it upon the fire. White, with a slight cry, stooped down to snatch it off” (Jacobs 2), Mr. White hastily retrieves the paw from the fire, even though he admits that he wouldn’t know what to wish for if he owned the paw, but the sheer power that it would give a person is enough. Another instance of symbolism is the game of chess that Mr. White and Herbert play at the beginning of the story. Chess is a game of risk and strategy that depends on a person's ability to anticipate moves ahead of time. In this story, the chess game symbolizes life and the number of unnecessary risks Mr. White must make, the author admits, “The [chess] game [involves] radical changes, putting his king into such sharp and unnecessary perils that it even provoked comment from the white-haired old lady knitting placidly by the fire” (Jacobs 1), this shows the erratic chances Mr. White takes that even make his wife nervous as she watches the game unfold. The …show more content…

It is a stormy night, the rain is falling and the wind is blowing. Then the introduction of the monkey's paw into the story adds the first touch of surreal darknesses and mystery to the story when the sergeant only wishes to destroy it. Jacobs uses dark mood in “The Monkey’s Paw” in order to raise questions that will allow the reader to figure out the theme, by stating, “His manner was so impressive that his hearers were conscious that their light laughter jarred somewhat...His tones were so grave that a hush fell upon the group” (2), the author sets a dark, ominous mood. The sergeant's warning about the paw and his wish to destroy it raises even more questions. Jacob’s mention of the fireplace also brings a destructive and mysterious mood to the story, he writes, “he sat alone in the darkness, gazing at the dying fire, and seeing faces in it. The last face was so horrible and so simian that he gazed at it in amazement” (Jacobs 3); here, the author wants to create a suspense for the reader about what Herbert might have seen in the fire. The surreal atmosphere W.W. Jacobs creates in “The Monkey’s Paw” is used to create a suspenseful and mysterious mood that will determine the theme and force readers to ask themselves if toying with fate will come with terrible

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