Who’s to blame?
W.W Jacobs The Monkey’s Paw, is a play about the White’s, a family of three. Everything is fine at the White’s place, until a friend, Sergeant Major Morris visits their house. After a few drinks, Mr.White brings up the monkey’s paw, which is a cursed object that is able to grant three wishes to three people. He mentions that everyone who makes a wish regrets it later on. Mr.White asks S.M.M if he would make a wish, he gets scared and throws it in the fire. Mr.White takes it out again and keeps it, with the intention of using it. Morris warns him that he should stay away from the paw. However, the Whites’ are curious. Listening to his son Herbert, who insists on using the paw to ask for 200 pounds to payoff the mortgage. This leads to the death of Herbert for which they get
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Sampson arrives at the house of Mr. and Mrs. White’s, who were expecting Herbert to return from work. They receive a cheque for 200 pounds before Sampson’s arrival. Sampson informs them that there has been an accident involving Herbert. He explains, “ He was telling his males a story. Something that happened here last night. He was laughing, and he wasn’t noticing and-and- the machines caught him” (Jacob 130). Herbert was being very careless as he is working around dangerous machines he needs to be careful. To my understanding when anyone is working around a dangerous environment they are only going to take the risk if they are willing to be careful. As I see it, Herbert could have died anywhere yet for being so careless he got caught in the machine. It could have been that Herbert didn’t lose his life because of the mistake he did with monkey’s paw. Maybe everything just falls together and the reason for Herbert's death is said to be because of the monkey’s paw. Herbert risks his life by not being attentive at work which leads to an accidental
In W.W. Jacobs’ “The Monkey’s Paw” there is a family named the Whites who receive a magic monkey paw that can grant three wishes to them, but they are forewarned that each wish will have a horrible consequence. They do not heed the warning and wish for money to pay off their house debt and their son dies as repercussion for messing with fate. Mrs.White tries to bring her son back to life with the monkey’s paw, but her wish was undone by her husband’s fear of seeing their son’s mangled body. When people mess with fate and alter destiny they must also face an equal consequence for straying the path that was set for them.
1 The Monkey’s Paw “The Monkey’s Paw” is a short story written by the author W. W. Jacobs. Thestory was first published in England in the collection The Lady of the Barge in 1902. In the story, the person who receives the paw is granted three wishes.
On Willy’s funeral, Charley says that “He [is] a happy man with a batch of cement.” As Linda also recognizes, Willy is “wonderful with his hands”. It shows that Willy actually is a man who loves to work with tools and he is good at fixing and building things at home. Willy’s talent can have made him an excellent carpenter as Biff said in one point. However, Willy chooses to sacrifice what he is really good at, to be a successful salesman as Dave. Moreover, Willy refuses to go to Africa to assist his brother Ben and gives up the opportunity to be rich. Because Dave’s successful image is deeply rooted in Willy’s mind, he believes that one day he can achieve his expectation. Even though Willy understands the difficult financial situation of family, he still refuses Ben and the opportunity to be rich because he considers he is struggling for his unfulfilled expectations. When he is fired by Howard from the company he worked for last thirty-four years, he still refuses to take a job from Charley. Since Willy still want to follow his dream of being Dave, he would not do any other job but trying hard to be successful salesman in business. It is also a part of his sacrifice for his unfulfilled
Compare and Contrast A Withered Arm by Thomas Hardy and The Monkey's Paw by W.W. Jacobs
Additionally, Sergeant Major Morris knew the consequences of wishing upon the monkey's paw, saying on page 377, "I don't know what the first two [wishes] were, but the third was for death." This implied that the previous owner of the paw had suffered such severe consequences that he wished away his own life. Although Sergeant Major Morris refrained from giving the
The Simpsons episode “The Simpsons Treehouse of Horror II” is about a magical monkey’s paw bought by the Simpsons, a modern day family that lives in a town called Springfield. The family uses the paw to grant themselves four wishes. The wishes, they soon find out, all include repercussions that harm the family in some way. The book “The Monkey’s Paw” is about a family that is given a monkey’s paw by a friend that says it can grant three wishes. The family’s home in this story is Laburnum Villa, sometime in the past. At first the family is skeptical of the friends claim that the paw is magic saying, “If the tale about the monkey’s paw is not more truthful than those he has been telling us, we shan't make much out of it.”(Page 4, W.W. Jacobs). They then proceed to use the paw and are surprised to find that what they wish for is in fact granted but comes with terrible consequences. While “The Monkey’s Paw” and “The Simpsons, Treehouse of Horror II” both share similar plots, the settings of the stories and the
I will just take it home and see what this fake thing can do.” The man went back to his house and sat down on the chair in the dining room staring at the monkey’s paw. He told his wife and daughter about how the old fakir gave him the monkey’s paw and how it granted wishes. The man said to the monkey’s paw “I wish for a million dollars.”
The theme in both stories are the same it is be careful what you wish for. I know this because in the “Monkey's paw” even when the man says, “ I warn you of the consequences if you must wish, wish for something sensible” Mr.white still wishes for 200 pounds this was not a very sensible wish it was actually very selfish and childish. As a result That same day a man walked up to his door and says that Mr.white's son was caught in equipment and that, “they wish to present
If Willy had faced reality he could have quit his job with Howard and the company and gotten a job with Charlie. Charlie was always offering Willy work, but he never took it because he was “ such a good salesman.” Once Willy lost his job, he was depressed, but tried to shrug it off. He never did take a job with Charlie, even after he lost his job. Again he could not face the reality, but in the end this led to his tragic flaw, suicide.
All of these events eventually lead to the downfall of a strong, determined, but confused character. Perhaps the most defeating action that happened to Willy was the loss of his job. All he had ever been in life was a salesman; therefore, it was the only trade that he was any good at. When he had the conference with Howard, he had his hopes up. Willy had regained his confidence in himself and was ready to take control of his life at a very crucial time.
White used on the monkey’s paw was to have 200 pounds (Jacobs 91). The previous examples prove how the theme of limiting luxury is illustrated differently in both stories by showing the wealth of each family. In “The Veldt,” the family is in a superior financial state where they have access to anything they want and where money is not an issue. However in “The Monkey’s Paw,” although it took place in 1902, the White’s first wish was for 200 pounds- 243 dollars and 83 cents- which is not an insanely large amount of money that would result in them being care-free for the rest of their lives. Overall, this proves the theme of the limiting luxury through showing the amount of means each family has and how their limit’s would be different from one another's as the two stories progress. Another instance of how the theme is portrayed differently in the short stories is how finances play a role in family life. For instance, in Ray Bradbury’s “The Veldt,” the Hadley’s have access to such an extreme amount of money that it begins to affect how the parents and kids interact. This occurs when Peter threatens his father by saying, “I don’t think you’d better consider it any more, father” (Bradbury 7). On the contrary, the relationship between the members of the White family is much
The second complication that destroys Willy is his aging. By getting older he can't do the things he used to do. His aging affects his work because he is not the salesman he once was. He is not making enough money to support his wife, Linda, and himself. Being 60, Willy is getting too old for the traveling he does for his work. Willy asks his boss, Howard, for a raise and Howard fires him. Willy is really worn out and Howard knows this. This situation in end destroys Willy's pride and he could never ask his sons for money.
Three wishes, an old Indian curse, and a mummified paw, that was cut from a monkey. This is going to be exciting! “The Monkey’s Paw” is a short story written by W.W. Jacobs in the early 1900’s just after the turn of the centenary. Even though the text is short, it grabs the reader’s attention and keeps them on the edge of their seats until the very end. As exhilarating as this thriller is to read, unfortunately like many literary works written during that time, “The Monkey’s Paw,” is demeaning towards women and goes against feminist literary criticism’s principles and ideologies.
... Instead of offering him a job, Howard tells him to take “a good long rest” (Miller 89). This, of course, simply means that Willy is fired. This shows the inconsiderate quality of society, for Howard knows about Willy’s mental breakdown as he asks him if he has had one again (Miller 84). Instead of showing any pity or sympathy, he fires Willy, for there is no place left for an old and exhausted human being in a society where selling and success mean everything.
...causes Willy to attempt to take his own life. Linda tells about Willy’s attempt, “Last month… Oh boys, it’s so hard to say a thing like this! He’s just a big stupid man to you, but I tell you there’s more good in him than in many other people. I was looking for a fuse. The lights blew out, and I went down the cellar. And behind the fuse box-it happened to fall out-was a length of rubber pipe-just short” (59; Act 1).