The Monkey's Paw

W. W. Jacobs wrote the short story “The Monkey’s Paw” in 1902. A great number of adaptations of the story have since been created using different forms of media. The two which are being compared here are the play adaptation The Monkey’s Paw dramatized by Mara Rockliff and the 2011 film version The Monkey’s Paw by Ricky Lewis Jr. Both the play and film feature the White family receiving a monkey’s paw by which three wishes may be granted. The paw had a spell put on it by a holy man who wanted to show that fate rules people’s lives and that if people try to interfere, they will be sorry. The main differences between the play and the film are that film gives more background information about how and why the paw was obtained, uses more

The W.W. Jacobs version, and the Simpson’s version of The Monkey’s Paw were both similar and different. For example, one difference is, in The Monkey’s Paw story by W.W. Jacobs, the wishes made all had bad outcomes. Specifically, In the W.W. Jacobs version, a man comes to their house and tells them Herbert died and they would be given, “[t]wo hundred pounds...” (Jacobs 174). This evidence proves, how the White family wished for two hundred pounds, then the received the two hundred pounds, at the cost of their son’s life. On the other hand, in The Simpson’s version, they became rich and famous from their wish. Overall, In the W.W. Jacobs version of The Monkey’s paw, the wishes all had very bad outcomes; but the Simpson’s version had fairly good

After he leaves Mr. White wishes fro 200 pounds to pay the mortgage of the house. The day after a worker from his son’s job told Mr. White Herbert had died and in form of sorrow and respect they were going to give them 200 pounds. The night after the funeral Mr. White wishes fro Herbert to come back. After that he

White makes a wish he thought would be innocent and would benefit the family without listening to what Sargeant-Major Morris warned him about the deadly monkey´s paw. Later after he makes the wish, he finds out the monkey´s paw indeed worked, and the thing he wished for costed the life of his beloved son. Mr. And Ms. White, terrifies of the monkey´s paw, decide not to try it ever again. But Ms. White, inconsolable with her only child´s death, decides to take a risk and wish for her son to come back to life. Later at night, someone knocks harshly on the door and Mr. White, full of terror, uses the very last wish to disappear whatever was outside the door

The Monkey’s paw by W. W. Jacobs is an eerie short story about a son who dies in a horrific way and a family who wants to bring him back. It focuses on an enchanted monkey’s paw that grants three wishes. The paw was enchanted by an old fakir that wanted to prove that fate controlled life and going against it would only lead to regret and sorrow. This plot point can be noted as an underlying theme, but the main theme is “be careful what you wish for, because you might get it”. While this story is superb, a question comes to mind: Would could be learned from this short story?

The theme of “ The Monkey’s Paw” written by William W. Jacobs is to be satisfied with the one’s life and not interfere with fate. “‘He was a very holy man and he wanted to show that fate ruled people’s lives, and that to interfere with fate only caused deep sadness. ’”(Jacobs 1) This example shows that fate should not be interfered with because otherwise bad things will come from it, like when someone makes a wish from the monkey’s paw. People who wish for something with the monkey’s paw always end up regretting it because by doing so they mess with fate and the consequences are inescapable.

The theme of the “Monkey’s Paw”, by W.W. Jacobs is to be careful when being curious. In other words, the sergeant is trying to stray the White family away from taking the monkey’s paw because it causes many bad things to happen to the wishmaker. The White family just gets more and more interested and basically only starts hearing things they want to hear. For example, the sergeant keeps telling the family how the user before him had wished for his own death due to the mistakes that he made in previous wishes from the paw. Another example would be when the sergeant recommends the family to burn it after he says “Better let it burn.”

Fate shouldn’t be interrupted with, because those who did usually ended up sad and unhappy. That was what Mr. White and Mrs. White learned after receiving the cursed monkey’s paw. The paw was initially given to Sergeant Morris, but after using his 3 wishes he decided to show it to Mr. White. Unfortunately, he had no idea that this paw was extremely dangerous. The most responsible person for the tragic events resulted from the monkey’s paw was Mr.

Mr. White tries to restrain his wife from opening the door, again recalling the mangled figure of his son. As she escapes his grasp and rushes to open the door, Mr. White grabs the monkey’s paw and breathes his last

In the short story “The Monkey’s Paw,” W.W. Jacobs progresses the concept that fate rules people’s lives, and that those interfere with it did so to their sorrow due to the injudiciousness, naivety, and impetuousness they maintain. This theme is apparent throughout the story as a mishap impacts the White family, when Sergeant Major Morris introduces a special Monkey’s paw to them, which is claimed to grant three wishes to three separate men. The story begins with the White family playing chess and a visit from the Sergeant Major Morris sharing his past trips while in the military. During his visit he mentions a Monkey’s Paw that had a spell put on it by an old fakir.

The theme for the story “Monkey’s Paw” by W. W. Jacobs is fate rules peoples' lives, and that those who try to interfere with destiny do so at their own expense. The story is about a family that gets a magically cursed paw that grants three people three wishes. They wish for money, but it didn't come in the way they expected. Their son ends up dead, and Mrs.White goes crazy. She misses him so badly, she ends up wishing for him back.

In my opinion, watching plays are more entertaining than reading boring, page long, textual versions of short stories. Although, you may beg to differ, the theatrical version of, “The Monkey’s Paw” enhanced the textual version of the story. This is primarily because the theatrical version of the story had special effects and lighting, relevant props, and very enthusiastic casting. All of these elements in the theatrical version improved the text version of, “The Monkey’s Paw”, by W.W. Jacobs.

“Hey, that’s my nut!” said Squirrel’s cousin. He grabbed away the nut just as Squirrel was about to take her first bite and ran off with it.

Taking place in a countryside home, W.W. Jacobs’s short story “The Monkey’s Paw” illustrates the White family’s two-day interaction with a seemingly innocent mummified monkey's paw. Each character presented in the short story represents natural human traits that can prove to be negative when greed and curiosity are involved. The use of symbolism throughout the story proves to be vital to the reader, as it allows him or her to understand the importance of every action done to the monkey’s paw has an opposite consequence. This correlates to everyone on Earth’s predetermined fate and the problems that an individual could face when greed overcomes their needs, even when it is for a better or worse life. When individuals are consumed by greed, like the White family, they must accept the consequences no matter how severe it is when it is something they truly seek in life.

Maw and Meggins, the factory Herbert worked at, took all responsibility for Herbert's death, and as condolence gave the White family 200 pounds. The White's first wish came true, but the wish had consequences. In the 'Resolution' section of my plot graph, I stated that "Mr. White makes his third wish for Herbert to rest