William Wymark Jacobs The Monkey's Paw

When thinking of how to reason a wish, most imagine a wish as blowing out a candle or wishing on a fountain. Does this relate to a wish on a Monkey’s Paw? Do wishes actually come true? “The Monkey’s Paw” by William Wymark Jacobs is about a monkey’s Paw that is able to grant three different people wishes. The monkey’s paw was brought into The White’s home by Sergeant Major Morris and the White’s were warned about the consequences of wishing upon the Monkey’s Paw and what it could do. The Whites did not think much about the consequences until there was the consequence of Mr.White’s wish. “The Monkey’s Paw” is a classic scary tale and what makes the tale belong in the horror genre is that even though there are no monsters it can still be scary,

Sergeant Major, the White family’s house guest, informed them that the fakir conjured a spell and put a curse on the monkey's paw. “He wanted to show that fate ruled people’s lives, and those who interfered with it did so to their sorrow”(Jacobs 74- 76). Sergeant Major told the White’s that if they made a wish on the monkey’s paw it would interfere with their fate and something bad would come of it. This quote helped prove that the story was very frightening even though there were no monsters because it referred to fate ruining people’s lives. There was no blatant horror so the story was not physically scary but it was definitely internal horror since it was emotionally chilling. The quote depicted horror since the White’s continued to think about wishing on the monkey’s paw in spite of the consequences. In addition, after Sergeant Major gave him the monkey’s paw the old man made a wish for 200 pounds. After he made the wish the paw suddenly shifted in his hand and startled the old man. “A fine crash from the piano greeted the words, interrupted by a shuddering cry from the old man. His wife and son ran toward him. It moved, he cried, with a glance of disgust at the object as it lay on the floor. As I wished it twisted in my hand like a snake”(Jacobs 155-160). The old man became extremely disturbed and fearful when the monkey’s paw moved in

In the short story “The Monkey’s Paw" by W.W Jacobs there are frightening scenes, which include; the son knocking on the White’s door and when the old man had dropped the monkey's paw. The old man had sent it crashing to the floor and that created suspense because the audience then wonders what is going to happen next and also what the old man was thinking. According to “What Is The Horror Genre” by Sharon Russell there was traditional horror because the story was set in dark, creepy places like in a dark room or small things like having a fire burning out. There was also dark references to magic, mystery and death in “The Monkey’s Paw.” An example would be when Sergeant Major tells the White’s about a spell that had been put onto the monkey’s paw because the thought of there being magic in something is mysterious. The theme of “The Monkey’s Paw is to not interfere with fate because it will ruin peoples lives. Why mess with your fate if it could ruin your life? Even if you think your life is not the best, there are always people who have it harder than