Throughout history, there has been many experiences where the abuse of power showed a backlash that caused it’s wielder great harm. When speaking in context of the use of unhealthy power that leads to appalling consequences, it can be seen that the abuse of power causes a battle between conscience and the hunger for superiority, where the strength of the power correlates with the hunger for it. A story called “The Monkey’s Paw” displays a talisman as a virtually unlimited source of power. Within the story, there is a man named Sergeant-Major Morris that is welcomed into the home of the main characters, Mrs. and Mr. White. Sergeant Major tries to burn the monkey’s paw (talisman), but instead has Mr. White snatch it before it's destruction. …show more content…
White after being given the power of the monkey’s paw. On page three in the story, the writer drops a small clue that describes Mr. White’s thoughts by showing his external facial features. “His father, smiling shamefacedly at his own credulity, held up the talisman, as his son (Jacobs 3)...” The description “shamefacedly” shows that Mr. White had a feeling of guilt for his doing, suggesting that there was a slight internal battle before his abuse of power that granted him his wish. This is all happening a moment before his first wish, showing that he had thought about the idea of exploiting the power coming from the talisman. Provided that Mr. White has not used the talisman yet, it can be seen that he does not feel wrongdoing from completing an action. Instead, the man is incorporating thought into his future actions. The character's thinking can only point to two different directions in the category of the monkey’s paw; he can use the monkey’s paw to wish or he can listen to Sergeant Major’s words and abstain the wish for 200 pounds. This is an internal conflict. The two sides consist of scruples and desire for power. The scruples is the moral consciousness inside of Mr. White’s head telling him to stay away from the monkey’s paw. Opposing this force, is the desire for power that is telling the old man that his inclination is to wish for something greedy. Given all these points, the conclusion can be …show more content…
The story somewhat followed the moral because every time Mr. White wished using the monkey’s paw, he evidently created consequences for himself, which causes people to think that the old man should be more careful of what he wishes for. This could be a powerful theme, but it fails to account for some dialog from Sergeant-Major. On the second page of The Monkey’s Paw, it stated: ““It had a spell put on it by an old fakir," said the sergeant-major, "a very holy man. He wanted to show that fate ruled people's lives, and that those who interfered with it did so to their sorrow().”” Clearly, any wishes that changed fate in any way would damage the wielder him/herself. Therefore, the only type of wish that would not be damaging are wishes that would do nothing. Wishing for nothing is not really a wish so that implies that every single wish would lead to a repercussion. Under these circumstances, it is impossible to be careful for what you wish for if every single wish will be damaging. As a result, this moral cannot be implied within the story, making the original one more relevant within the
The White family—mother, father, and son Herbert—are spending a cozy evening at (1)____________ when the father's friend Sergeant Major Morris drops by for a visit. In the course of telling stories about his travels to (2) ____________, Morris reveals that he has a magical (3) ____________that will give its holder three wishes. The Whites beg to use it; Morris warns them against its (4) ____________powers but then agrees to leave it with them. Mr. White makes a wish for (5) ____________, and nothing happens. But later the next day, the parents receive
In “The Monkey’s Paw,” dark side greediness is shown by the father wishing for two hundred pounds. Herbert said to Mr. White, “well wish for two hundred pounds, that’ll just do it.” When making this wish, Mr. White didn’t realize what he would he losing while gaining what he’s asking for. You don’t always get exactly what you want, so be careful what you wish for, your wishes can be twisted into something
Greed is a sin of excess that every single human being has at least a little bit of. When someone has the opportunity to get as much of something as they possibly can, they will go to great lengths to get everything out of it. In the story “The Monkey’s Paw,” by W. W. Jacobs, the White family experiences a big test of greed, and they even tamper with their fate to get it. Before the Whites even knew about the paw, they were living a normal, but decent, lifestyle that got them by day-to-day without any troubles. Once they received this one idol in their life that could grant any three wishes that they could possibly think of, their mind set was altered and their greediness to change their fate kicked into play. Jacobs uses themes of
What if in this world there is an item that can grant anybody any three wishes? There may even be serious and dangerous consequences to every wish. The strange thing about the ability to get any three wishes that one wants is that it's true."The monkey's paw" written by W.W. Jacobs uses the well known story of being granted 3 wishes but puts a twist on the story creating a horror type story. In the small parlor of Lakesnam Villa a visitor comes named Sergeant Major Morris. The Sergeant Major visits the house of Mr. and Mrs. White and their son Herbert. The sergeant pulls out the monkeys paw and talks about its magic before throwing it in the fire where
This evidence reveals that the paw is cursed by a fakir who wants to teach people a lesson about interfering with fate when they wish for things that are not destined to happen. Because the paw is cursed, the reader can conclude the wishes will not have the desired outcomes. Also in the text, when the White inquirer furthermore about the paw, Major Morris throws it into the fire, and warns them of the consequences after Mr.White quickly retrieves it off the fire(paragraph 39 and 44). The evidence reveals that Major Morris is scared what will happen to the White family. Also, Mr.White is so interested in the paw, he risks burning himself to get it. This indicates that he will probably make wishes. Next, when Major Morris was asked about the man who first acquire the paw, Major Morris said his third wish was for “death”(paragraph 33). The first two wishes of the other man must of been so bad that he wished for death, so the three wishes for Mr.White are probably going to be
At first Mrs. White is very skeptical of the power the paw is said to possess. Even while Mr. White is fully captured by the paw’s mysteries, he is still uncertain of what to wish for. His son suggested asking for two hundred pounds, “ ‘If you only clear the house, you’d be quite happy, wouldn’t you!’ said Herbert, … ‘Well wish for two hundred pounds…’ ”(3). Although it is true, that after the wish there is no immediate sign of it coming true, a man pays Mr. and Mrs. White a visit the next day to inform them of their sons death. They do not correlate the two events until they receive the compensation of two hundred pounds, for their sons tragic leaving. That is the precise moment that they finally realize the paw’s evil “curse”. Furthermore, in the concluding part of the story, Mrs. White begs her husband to “ wish [their] boy alive again” (6). This illustrates irony because the family has just seen evidence that wishing on the monkey's paw is a horrendous idea and only brings detrimental consequences. It is even specifically mentioned, in the beginning of the story, that Mrs.White did not even want to ever make a wish. By wishing Herbert (their son) back from the dead, she is doing the exact opposite of what she was expected to do, thereby creating an ironic event. Overall, Jacobs uses the characters actions as a way to depict the monkey's paw true
The theme of the “Monkey’s Paw”, by W.W. Jacobs is to be careful when being curious. In other words, the sergeant is trying to stray the White family away from taking the monkey’s paw because it causes many bad things to happen to the wishmaker. The White family just gets more and more interested and basically only starts hearing things they want to hear. For example, the sergeant keeps telling the family how the user before him had wished for his own death due to the mistakes that he made in previous wishes from the paw. Another example would be when the sergeant recommends the family to burn it after he says “Better let it burn.”
death, but used in different ways. In "The Monkey's Paw" Mr. White wishes for his son to
The conflict that takes place throughout the story is of an external source, which is Mr. White versus the supernatural. Mr. White lets his curiosity get the best of him and has to find out if it’s even real. After knowing about the other owners that had the paw, one would think Mr. White would have just let the paw burn in the fire. Mr. Morris talked about the other owners of the paw. The author writes, “The first man had his three wishes…I don’t know what the first two were, but the third was for death” (646). The supernatural aspect of the paw made Mr. White even more drawn to
In “The Monkey’s Paw”, a family, the Whites, use the talisman, a monkey’s paw, for their own benefit, but it blows up in their face. Their son’s death is the consequence for using the talisman, and they continue to use it to bring their son back, but only for the last wish to kill their son again. Mr. White is most responsible for his son’s death, and the sorrow that comes with it because he made the first wish that killed his son, he refused to destroy the talisman, and he played on his wife’s emotions with his last two wishes.
“The Monkey’s Paw,” teaches you the lesson of being careful of what you wish for because the outcome may be very dreadful. A strange Monkey’s paw that grants wishes would seem a little bogus to me. The myths of this paw granting the beholder three wishes, anything you can think of. The beholder gets their wish; only to have consequences to pay for the granted wish. The wishes leave the beholder in either shock or grief. Only leading up to the person granting the wishes, to regret that they ever came up the Monkey’s
The beginning of the story, he wishes has 200 pounds, it comes true, but he loses his son as a punish. He ssys: ”was that enough?” (W. W. Jacobs Page.8) when his wife wants to wish again. He knows that if his son comes back, there will happen some bad things again. He finally understands this saying, there is no free meal in the whole world. The only way that we can get thing is that working by ourselves. This is also one reason that he prevents his wife to wish his son back, but he knows if his son comes back by monkey’s paw, some bad things will happen
Morris told about the monkey's paw, which had been enchanted by a fakir to be able to give three men three wishes. He seemed troubled by it, though. Mr. White asked if Morris had used it yet, and Morris said he had. A man before him had also used the three wishes, so there were three left. Morris said that it had caused him trouble, but Mr. White wanted it.
Taking place in a countryside home, W.W. Jacobs’s short story “The Monkey’s Paw” illustrates the White family’s two-day interaction with a seemingly innocent mummified monkey's paw. Each character presented in the short story represents natural human traits that can prove to be negative when greed and curiosity are involved. The use of symbolism throughout the story proves to be vital to the reader, as it allows him or her to understand the importance of every action done to the monkey’s paw has an opposite consequence. This correlates to everyone on Earth’s predetermined fate and the problems that an individual could face when greed overcomes their needs, even when it is for a better or worse life. When individuals are consumed by greed, like the White family, they must accept the consequences no matter how severe it is when it is something they truly seek in life.
In the first scene, Mr. White, even after being advised not to, took the monkey’s paw from Morris (a family friend). Morris had even told them, “The first man made his three wishes. I don’t know what the first two were, but the third wish was for death. That’s how I got the paw.” (page 20) The wishes that the paw granted were so abhorrent, the first man had wished for death. Even with this knowledge, Mr. White still says “If you don’t