The Monkey's Paw by W.W Jacobs is a short story that’s theme is, careful what you wish for because you just might get it. This theme means that you may not have thought through the consequences if your wish is granted. On my plot graph in the 'Climax' section, it says "Herbert dies as a result of the wish." Mr. White wished for 200 pounds as his first wish. That wish came true when Herbert died in the machinery at his work. 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
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
“Greed is not a financial issue, it's a heart issue”- Andy Stanley. In the short story The Monkey's Paw written by W.W. Jacobs, a small town family known as the Whites acquired a monkey's paw that had the power to grant three wishes for them. Although the family expects everything good from the paw, the exact opposite happens to them, during their time with the paw. The one most to blame for all the mishap caused by the paw should be Herbert, the white's one and only son. Some people would argue that Mr. White is to blame because he's the one that makes all the wishes on the paw; however, Herbert is more to blame because he’s the one who pushed Mr. White to even think about wishing on the paw.
The day after they conversed about the paw, Herbert and his mother teased his father about making a wish about money and that they would have to disown him for his greed. Herbert jokingly urged his father to make a wish for £200, to pay off the mortgage of their house. The mother and son continued and insinuated as she followed Herbert to the door, as he went to work. As the story unveiled, the mortgage is paid off with the granted wish of £200. Much to Mrs. White’s chagrin, her son had died due to him being caught in the machinery at work. Her son’s death yielded them the £200 that they had originally wished for.
Do you think that a wish can make you lose someone you love dearly? In the “Monkey’s Paw” by W.W Jacobs a family is torn apart when a cursed paw is given to Mr. White is the most responsible for Herbert’s death, will be seen through several examples from the text.
Ever had something go in one ear and it went out the other, even though there was a warning about the consequences? In The Monkey’s Paw by W. W. Jacobs, the White’s family, is introduced to a magical paw by their friend, the sergeant. The magical paw contains three wishes and after each of them, follows a blood curdling consequence. This story is a great reminder of why you shouldn’t take more than you already have.
“Greed is a bottomless pit which exhausts the person in an endless effort to satisfy the need without ever reaching satisfaction” - Erich Fromm. This has been featured in The Monkey’s Paw by W.W. Jacobs. The white family takes the monkey's paw and grants three wishes to Sergeant Major Morris. What Mr. White thought would bring him great fortune, but resulting in a tragic accident, shows how greedy he could be. Mr. White is to blame because he decided to take in the paw and proceed to make wishes knowing there would be consequences for it.
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.”
The quote “Be careful what you wish for” is often overlooked and taken for granted. In the passage The Monkey’s Paw, written by W. W. Jacobs, one of the characters makes the mistake of doing this exact thing. Mr. White is an old man with a wife and a son who is expecting a visitor one stormy evening. Their visitor, Sergeant Major Morris, tells tales of the monkey’s paw, a mummified paw of a monkey that can supposedly grant three wishes to three individuals. By making a selfish wish, the blame for a sorrowful loss will forever haunt Mr. White.
Back in 2012, my great-grandmother died 4 days after she was released from the hospital. We automatically blamed the hospital for her passing. When a loved one dies, sometimes the only way to cope is to place blame on someone. We feel like someone must be held responsible for the tragedy. In “Monkey’s Paw” by W.W. Jacobs, the White’s son, Herbert meets a horrific demise. The family uses a monkey’s paw given by a family friend to wish for 200 pounds. Coincidentally, Herbert dies the next day. Many people were involved in this terrible situation, but, at the end of the day, Herbert did not believe in the powers of the paw. He also pushed his father to make such a frivolous wish. Taking into consideration the wreck less actions of Herbert, I have no choice but to place the blame of Herbert’s death into his own hands.
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 merchant the man's name.He said " It's Martin Jones ". Martin had a scruff beard and a heavy head head of hair. The merchant asked what did martin want. Martin said " you know what I want dammit the dam monkey's paw." "I don't have the paw" the merchant said nervously. Martin screamed at the man telling him I will kill you and pulls out a gun aims at the man's head and tells him again "Where is the monkey's paw you or you're a dead man. "Here" the merchant said handing the monkey's paw. His hand shaking. It is cursed the merchant said. Martin didn't care what the merchant said and ran out of the shop and hid in a nearby alley. He threw away the gun ran towards the airport to go back home in rural
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.
Mr. White quick off his feet rescues it. Sergeant Morris demands he leaves the paw alone multiple times. Mr. White does not listen to Sergeant Morris. After, Sergeant Morris explains how to make a wish but highly discourages it. Sergeant Morris leaves and tells him the person before him who had this paw was that his last wish was for death. After Sergeant Morris leaves Herbert, Mr. White's son, says he is full of nonsense. Herbert says a thousand dollars would be nice in order to pay off the house. So, Mr. White makes the wish for a thousand dollars. Nothing happens for a while. Herbert leaves that night to go work in the factory and says he should be home for breakfast. The next morning Mr. and Ms. White notice Herbert is 20 minutes late. They keep looking out the window for him, but then they spot a woman in nice clothes walking around outside. Later she finally approached the house. She tells Mr. and Ms. White that their son died last night in the factory. Regret is seen vividly when Mr. and Ms. White receives this news. She hands them a suitcase with a thousand dollars in it and says this is for your lose. Mr. and Ms. White griefs until Ms. White comes up with a great idea. Mr. White runs and grabs the paw and wishes for their Hebert back. They look at the window and sees something arise from the graveyard. Ms. White is unable to open the door in time. Mr. White runs painfully and grabs the paw and wishes for his son to be dead in peace. This story was very
Many stories that have wishes have something about how the wish do not go very well. There are stories such as “The Third Wish” by Joan Aiken that are almost based off of this. The story “The Third Wish,” exemplifies the theme be careful what you wish for in almost every way.
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?