Life In The Monkey's Paw By W. Jacobs

Author W.W. Jacobs utilizes day-to-day life to generate a horrifying situation and showing how the average family would react to it in “The Monkey’s Paw”. In this short story, an ordinary, everyday family finds themselves tormented by a monkey’s paw that ends up killing and then resurrecting their son. While the plot is completely preposterous, the characters, setting, and character reactions are relatable to how the average person would react. W.W. Jacobs uses relatable characters, reactions, and setting to make the reader feel as though the same thing could happen to them, and they also could be cursed by a severed monkey’s paw. “The Monkey’s Paw” takes a normal, everyday family and puts them in a situation so heartbreaking that it would drive any other person insane. The text says, “Father and son were at chess…” This shows that Mr. White and his son have a close relationship like many other families. It also shows that the White family is an ordinary, everyday. Most people have an immediate family that consists of two parents and their child and or children. The White family is the same as most families. If the story, or in this case short story,

Jacobs also relates to the reader with his character’s reactions. The White family, specifically Mrs. White, tries to bring their son back in any way possible. Mrs. White says, “‘Only just thought of it,” she said hysterically.” Mrs. White shows extreme happiness when she realizes she can bring back her son. Any other person would be overcome with joy if they realized they can resurrect their only child. W. W. Jacob’s use of relatable reactions makes the reader more interested in the story. They know what the characters will do, but not what will happen to the characters. Poe, on the other hand, leaves you questioning what the characters will do and not what will happen to them. This leads the reader to not be interested in the book. Jacobs truly terrifies the reader using fear of the