In the story The Monkey’s Paw, the reader is likely to experience a continual desire to keep reading the story. The story has skillful foreshadowing and uncomfortable suspense that get the reader nervous and anxious to discover the final outcome. This story involves a enchanted, mummified monkey paw that is said to have the power to grant three wishes to three different people. As the Whites make their wishes, they realizes that they would have been better off without this talisman. How can a wish be twisted to bring such an unintended result? At the beginning, the Whites are waiting for a friend who is in the military that is coming over. They are especially excited because they rarely have visitors to their house. When the friend arrives,
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White goes to the door and attempts to unlock it. Mr. White is on the floor of his bedroom frantically searching for the paw. Mr. White clearly does not want to meet whatever monstrous form of his son that would appear behind his front door. In frantic swipes at the ground, Mr. White grasps the desperately sought talisman once and for all, as he wishes his undead son never to wake again. This wish is made simultaneously to Mrs. White’s success in unlocking the door. She is upset that her son is nowhere in sight which is made audibly known to Mr. White by a loud shriek. The race to find the monkey’s paw and to unlock the door that was holding back Herbert impacted the suspense, as well as the panicked reaction of Mr. White after the first few knocks sounded. The Whites might not have known that their son’s death would follow the wish for 200 pounds, but an astute reader can pick out this possibility based off of foreshadowing.
This is because the pattern of suspense in The Monkey’s Paw is clear, including : foreshadowing in various forms, the reactions of the characters to outcomes, and the length of time that the story is told in. All of these variables affect the flow of the story and the suspense by moving the story along. When a reader follows these elements of the story, suspense is accomplished, and the reader might gain insight to the final outcome as
White goes to the door and attempts to unlock it. Mr. White is on the floor of his bedroom frantically searching for the paw. Mr. White clearly does not want to meet whatever monstrous form of his son that would appear behind his front door. In frantic swipes at the ground, Mr. White grasps the desperately sought talisman once and for all, as he wishes his undead son never to wake again. This wish is made simultaneously to Mrs. White’s success in unlocking the door. She is upset that her son is nowhere in sight which is made audibly known to Mr. White by a loud shriek. The race to find the monkey’s paw and to unlock the door that was holding back Herbert impacted the suspense, as well as the panicked reaction of Mr. White after the first few knocks sounded. The Whites might not have known that their son’s death would follow the wish for 200 pounds, but an astute reader can pick out this possibility based off of foreshadowing.
This is because the pattern of suspense in The Monkey’s Paw is clear, including : foreshadowing in various forms, the reactions of the characters to outcomes, and the length of time that the story is told in. All of these variables affect the flow of the story and the suspense by moving the story along. When a reader follows these elements of the story, suspense is accomplished, and the reader might gain insight to the final outcome as