The Use of Tension, Atmosphere and Conflict in The Monkey's Paw by W.W. Jacobs
The author begins the story by setting the scene and describing the
area in which the White's live. He describes the night as cold and
wet, while inside the house the blinds are drawn and the fire is
burning brightly. This is a good contrast, as the house seems to have
a warm and safe atmosphere inside, even though the cottage is situated
in a remote area of the country, with extremely unpleasant and harsh
weather.
Before the Sergeant-Major arrives, the atmosphere of the house seems
quite tense and dull. The author shows how tense Mr. White is when he
writes "Bawled Mr White, with sudden and unlooked-for violence". You
can easily see that Mr. White doesn't seem to be concentrating on his
game of chess. The language the author uses to describe the
characters' actions is used to create tension throughout the story.
When the Sergeant-Major arrives at the house, the mood and atmosphere
seem to change and brighten up. Mr. White "rose with hospitable
haste", which is a good contrast from the way he was acting before the
Sergeant-Major arrived!
The way that the author descrbies the Sergeant-Major makes him seem
like a man of authority and superior the The White's. As soon as the
Sergeant-Major arrives, the mood brightens up, and the author talks fo
tumblers of whisky, and a copper kettle. It seems like a very warm and
friendly atmosphere!
In the third paragraph, the Sergeant-Major talks about wild scenes,
which is a good contrast to the weather outside, as that is also wild.
In this paragraph everyone seems to be enjoying themselves. The
Sergeant...
... middle of paper ...
... let her son in, and Mr. White
frantically searches for the Monkey's Paw so he can make his last
wish. The author uses words and phrases such as "strained" and
"groping wildly" to show Mr. and Mrs. White's desperation.
All of a sudden, the knocking stops, and it's as if everything has
become still and quiet again. The author describes a cold wind rushing
up the staircase, which is a good contrast with Mrs. White's long wail
of disappointment. The author then talks about the street lamp
flickering on "a quiet and deserted road". This creates a sad feeling
of aloneness, and makes the reader feel sorry for Mrs. White.
Overall, i think W.W. Jacobs effectively used tension, atmosphere and
conflict throughout the story to create effect, and interest the
reader enough to make them want to readon and find out what happens.
you will not see Jay Berry jumping from tree to tree. Another outer force that
The word choice throughout the last four paragraphs must have been very deliberate. The decision for the story to be a short story must have been a very conscious one that Baldwin made. He uses only what is necessary and combines musical terms and common speech to pack the myriad of emotions evoked into as few words as possible. The narrator never really verbalizes the actual feelings that he or his brother feels but rather lets the readers see them and feel them for themselves through the images he portrays and the history attached. Much as music infers emotion through the gut rather than the ear and gives you shivers without saying a word at all Baldwin's descriptions convey maximum emotion with minimal language.
A Primate’s Memoir, written by Robert Sapolsky, documents the author’s time in Kenya while he studied the various behaviors of a troop of baboons. One of the key aspects of the book was the social rank that developed within the troop. Female baboons have a social hierarchy that is fairly cut and dry. The eldest baboons in the troop are considered the higher-ranking females, and as the baboons get younger, so to follows the string of dominance. The ranking for males was essentially from the strongest baboons to the weakest baboons. The baboon at the top of the social hierarchy was considered the alpha male. This social rank has huge implications for the troop in regards to which baboons mated with each other. If another baboon wanted to become the alpha male, then he would have to challenge the current alpha male to a fight, and win. The baboon’s distinct personality mixed with their instincts are the primary factors for where one lands on the social hierarchy. Another key aspect of the book was the strategies that took place when the baboons wanted to mate with another baboon. Similar to humans, the baboon males tried to impress the female baboons in a way that would make them want to mate. The rank of the male is considered to be one of the greatest factors contributing to what mate they end up with, because there is nothing more impressive than becoming a high-ranking baboon. Also, there were instances of lower-ranking baboons strategizing and forming teams with other baboons to become a higher ranking baboon for the mating possibilities. The baboons in the group are considered a patch-work of different troops, as it is common for one baboon to move to different groups frequently.
This alarming tone is further supported when Dillard narrates, “Wordless, we split up… He chased [us] around a yellow house and up a backyard path… under a low tree, up a bank, through a hedge, down some snowy steps… We smashed through a gap… we ran across Edgerton… He chased us silently… [We] had nowhere to go… we were losing speed… He caught us…” This final use of tone reveals her intention of creating an unnerving atmosphere. She outlines the situation in a manner that will make the readers feel worried and scared for her and her friend’s life. This supports her purpose by describing what “excitement” feels like. The use of tone allows the reader to feel her anxiety and her terror. The audience feels as if her life is in danger, and the use this nerve-racking tone is how we know when we are feeling what she intends for us to feel. It shows us what excitement is
...ir eyes off of the naked women dancing. The outbursts towards the black men is farther evidence that during that time, blacks had little to no say and had not felt equal to their white counterparts. Perhaps the most conspicuous symbol of all is the battle itself. The white men pitted a group of black men against each other; the black men were in a no win situation. Instead of expressing their displeasure with the white men, the black men were forced to take their anger out on each other. The narrator also seems to seek approval by the white men; remembering his speech as he fights the other men. According to the protagonist: Should I try to win against the voice out there? Would not this go against my speech, and was not this a moment for humility, for nonresistance?” ( ). He’s worried about defying the white men; letting them down by not performing well enough.
In the book, The Pearl, by John Steinbeck, and the short story “The Monkey's Paw” by W.W. Jacobs, both authors would agree that in these stories, if you intervene with your destiny/fate, a bad outcome is sure to happen.In The Pearl, Kino finds the pearl of the world. Kino wants to sell the pearl, in return for money, but the pearl ends up bringing the opposite of prosperity and brings bad fortune. Also, In “The Monkey's Paw”, Mr.White also wishes for money, but as he is warned, terrible things come when u interrupt with your fate.
talks to his son. ‘Hark at the wind’, tells us that Mr White is very
“and another sheet, yellow, moving towards the window, caught in the drying current flowing through the narrow opening" (Finney 112).This introduces the reader to the reason on why the main character is going on the ledge of the building. "A fraction of his mind knew he was going to fall, and he knew he began taking rapid blind steps with no feeling of what you was doing” (Finney 119).This shows the reader that he would do anything in the moment for this piece of paper. Without the conflict the main character would've never realized that he was wasting his life over a silly piece of paper.
"The Monkey" is a short story written by Isak Dinesen. The story was published in 1934. "The Monkey" is a form of gothic sublime. In this story, I encountered many elements that related to magical realism as well as the sublime.
In his poem, “One of the Monkeys,” Nicholas Johnson describes monkeys typing Shakespeare while being observed by a crowd of strangers. They are writing “Hamlet” by Shakespeare, which they have never read. Johnson’s poem explains the process of writing and the feelings associated with it. He does not celebrate or criticize the process; rather, he lists the feelings without the use of human examples. Johnson gives insight into the emotions of writing. He proves that writing is not bland, and that it can involve amusement, confusion, anguish, and motivation.
The “Monkey’s Paw” reveals an intriguing story of destiny and death. The Theme challenges the classical ideas of destiny and fate.
He uses the values and expectations to try to define himself. All that comes from that was him having to fake it to make it, still not finding out who his is as a person. Later on in the story when the narrator chooses to join the Brotherhood, he doing this is because he thinks that he can fight his way to racial equality by doing this. Once he enters in to this he figures out that they just want to use him because he was black. While at the place where this battle royal was going to take place is where some of the most important men in town are "quite tipsy", belligerent and out of control. When he gets in the ballroom there is a naked girl dancing on the table at the front of the room. He wants her and at the same time wants her to go away, "to caress her and destroy her" is what is states in the story. The black boys who were to take part in the battle were humiliated, some passed out, others pleaded to go home. But the white men paid no attention. The white men end up attacking the girl, who is described as having the same terror and fear in her eyes as the black boys. Over all, the narrator comes to conclusion that the racial prejudice of others influences them to only see him as they want to see him, and this affects his ability to act because
...ealized that experiences happen and that time doesn’t wait so you have to just keep moving on. The mood was heavily affected by each of these characters narration of each story and seems to take a reflective outlook throughout the duration of each story.
In the early 1900's life for America's new Chicago immigrant workers in the meat packing industry was explored by Upton Sinclair's novel The Jungle. Originally published in 1904 as a serial piece in the socialist newspaper Appeal to Reason, Sinclair's novel was initially found too graphic and shocking by publishing firms and therefore was not published in its complete form until 1906. In this paper, I will focus on the challenges faced by a newly immigrated worker and on what I feel Sinclair's purpose was for this novel.
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.