The Monkey's Paw Short Story

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

He is also described as a reckless thinker, which is proven in the opening scene of the story when he moves his king “into such sharp and unnecessary perils that it even provoked comment. This recklessness leads him to tempt fate with the monkey's paw, endangering his family as a result” (DISCovering Authors). Mr. White’s son, Herbert, also plays a smaller, but huge part of this story. Herbert is the kind of person that likes to be a little bit silly and joke around about anything. After Sergeant-Major Morris leaves their cozy home, Herbert starts to tease his mother and father telling them that they should make the their wish and to wish for money. After they wish for the money, it is kind of ironic that he starts to make fun of the wish because it has not showed up yet, even though his death ends up being the factory that gives his parents the two hundred pounds that they wished for. Herbert jokes around by saying “Well, I don't see the money,’ said his son as he picked [the paw] up and placed it on the table, 'and I bet I never shall” (1282). And Herbert never did see it, because he was the money. Mrs. White is described as “a calm, reserved woman. In the story's first scene, Jacobs notes that Mr. White's chess moves are so ‘radical’ that they ‘even provoked comment from the white-haired old lady knitting placidly by the fire’—as if drastic events must take place in order for her to even speak” (DISCovering Authors). Mrs. White is the common

Every year movies come into theaters that are based on popular books and stories. In these movie blockbusters, the general ideas are the same as in the written stories, but the details may contrast from the original plot in the text. In the short story, “The Monkey’s Paw” written by W. W. Jacobs, circles around the idea that this paw of monkeys' holds a special capability to grant three wishes to the person who receives the paw. Coming from India, Sergeant-Major Morris visits the White family and brings the intriguing paw with him. Explaining its purpose and use to them, they are all very fascinated with the idea of what potential power it holds within. Disregarding the warning Sergeant-Major Morris supplied, Mr. White wishes for 200 pounds in the short story, and 300 pounds in the cinematic production.. The consequences would soon become known and affect the White’s stable lives forever. Two other wishes are made to try to reverse the repercussions of the first wish, leaving the White family in despair. When comparing two tellings of the same story there may be many similarities and differences that emerge, providing distinct examples of what is relatively the same and what is definitely not.

Greed is the desire for material wealth, or gain, ignoring the realm of the spiritual. For

There are people in this world who think that money can give them anything. This can be food to water to ease and joy. Consequently, they comprehend that money will have a life filled with ease and happiness. But what you don’t visualize is that building these thoughts will lead to an obsessive, joyless, person going the extra mile to get that cash. Why this is unacceptable I might add is where is the ease and the joy you endured obsessively to have? Suffering long hours so you have ease but have no time to rest. Tolerating days of labor to find happiness, but find yourself empty when you have nothing to show yourself for it. D.H. Lawrence demonstrates this perfectly in his short story by including foreshadowing and symbolism, “The Rocking

One of the emotional essentials of life is to be loved, and there are quite a few cases where material things can hinder receiving this much-needed love, the greatest culprit of all being money. D. H. Lawrence’s short story “The Rocking Horse Winner” tells of a boy, Paul, who desires love and affection from his mother, Hester, but she is so wrapped up in her concerns with money that she does not display any of this needed affection toward her son or any of her children. She has grown unloving and bitter due to her husband’s inability to meet her expectations, and she tells Paul his father is unlucky. Full of curiosity, Paul asks his mother what luck is, and she tells him, “‘It’s what causes you to have money. If you’re lucky you have money. That’s why it’s better to be born lucky than rich. If you’re rich, you may lose your money. But if you’re lucky, you will always get more money” (Lawrence, 2). Paul is quite intuitive and interprets that the only way he can finally obtain love from his mother is if he is lucky, much unlike his father. He proudly shares with his mother that he is lucky, but when she does not take his word seriously, he falls into a blinded rage as he madly rides his rocking horse, hoping it will take him to where the luck is, “‘Now take me to where there is luck!’” (3). By riding his rocking-horse, he knows which horse will win the derby. The association of love with money brings about the idea of a love for money, or greed, which is one of the seven

Money is the supreme power of the world. Its immeasurable power and limitless influence has hacked into our society today, ruining our political democracy, our capitalistic economy, and our chances at achieving the American Dream. Money is handled differently between the rich and the poor. Money in the hands of the poor is spent on essential items necessary for survival, and since money is not abundant in the hands of the poor, every single penny is cherished as a gift from God. However in the hands of the rich, money is used to acquire more money. The urge to succumb to greed influences the rich to use any and all means necessary to grow their wealth, to grow their power, to grow their long lasting influence. We look up to the rich with awe for their ability to achieve the American Dream, but what we are blindfolded from seeing is the true rise to stardom, their true pathway to success. Not all, but some have achieved the American Dream through immoral acts and satanic deeds, swindling the desired ones from their exit of poverty or their chance to enter into reality. In the end of The Great Gatsby, F Scott Fitzgerald revealed to us the true Jay Gatsby. Fitzgerald teaches us that not all people achieve the American Dream immorally, giving the example of Jay Gatsby

Greed is a common flaw in all human beings, coaxing individuals to pour in all their effort without ever being satisfied. The ultimate goal for greed is generally achieving affluence. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s insightful novel, The Great Gatsby, wealth is portrayed as the key factor in determining whether one is successful or not. Most people value prosperity over morals and ethics during the heat of pursuing their own ambitions; yet all unscrupulous behaviors do not escape God’s eyes. By utilizing eye motif, repetitions of sight words, and tone changes, F. Scott Fitzgerald justifies that avarice will always end in vain and amoral decisions will always end in regrets.

When people chase wealth, they can cause unforeseen consequences. Fitzgerald’s Great Gatsby warns us about when people chase wealth, and how they change and can potentially harm others.

Greed is what drives everything in society, whether that be thousands of years ago or today. The reason we have advancements in our world is greed. People want to live forever, have a legacy that lives forever, or they want to have the most money. People have a natural desire to have the most stuff, whether that be money or physical good, and they will go to the ends of the earth to get it. And because this is human nature, unfortunately, it isn’t stopping anytime soon.

Greediness has strong toll on our actions. This is the moral of the story. This mainly applies to Long John Silver, who searches for the money. He will do whatever it takes to get the money. His sneaky way of deceiving people gets him a long way, but it can’t get him everything.

A Treasury of Terribly Sad Stories of Lotto Winners and the poem Richard Cory has changed my conception of happiness. By reading both stories it showed me how money can destroy people. I never looked at money as being evil or even winning the lottery as being bad. However, money can make you lose everything you have like your wife and kids especially if you pick up bad habits like Michael Carroll who spent all his money on drugs, gambling and prostitutes which lead to the loose of him losing his wife and daughter, sounds crazy, people would think Carroll would be taking his family on vacation but instead got stuck on drugs and blow his money on crazy things (Treasury of Terribly Sad Stories of Lotto Winners

Instead of getting the money, his son died and he got the money he had wished for. Some say it’s fate that these horrible things happen and others say it is evil magic! However, it makes more since that fate was the thing creating these horrible events in the story. Fate has caused a downfall in the White’s family.

As times rolls on the happiness they use to have slowly fades away. One might need more money to make their self happy or drugs to get a high like they had with the money. When your gaining money and getting new things one might think he is Mr.bigshot. As someone gains more and more money they do not have the same feeling they did as they were gaining the money. In the short story “ Canonbury” when the poor guys find the money their all friends and working together.

Throughout history, many people struggle with greed. Greed is defined as a selfish desire for something. Throughout the story each character faces there own form of greed, whether they know it or not each action impacts each other and leads to the death of the mother’s son. In the short story “The Rocking-Horse Winner”, the author D.H lawrence uses a rocking horse, wealth, and lack of family intimacy to illustrate to the reader the disastrous problems with greed.