Symbolism In The Monkey's Paw

Improved Essays
Symbolism-Good n Bad in Stories
The theme of multiple narratives is directly connected by characters, light/dark, and possibly the mood. For example, “The monkey’s paw” looks at how a curse can destroy one’s life, while “Egg” examines life and death for human and chicken. In “the storm” it is about a storm that creates a dark feel, but Alcee is considered a light character, when “the necklace” is about a wife who rebels against her husband and loses her friend’s necklace, while the light is enjoying herself. I will help explain these four stories and how they connect to one another. In the monkey’s paw at the beginning, we get a very dark mood feel. Black Magic comes with the curse and the only light that really shows through is when the sergeant gives helpful information about what
…show more content…
and Mrs. White. “Hold up your right hand and wish aloud, ‘but I warn you of the consequences.” (Jacobs 647). The monkey’s paw is the symbol of desire and greed. “I wish for two hundred pounds” (Jacobs 647) which came with Mr. and Mrs. White’s son to be destroyed at work by the machinery. The paw omits the power that may be misinterpreted, because of Mr. and Mrs. White’s son being killed could be coincidentally somebody else other the corpse knocking at the door. Another symbolism is chess that represents life, but see as a daring, risky which means if you lose in the game you lose your life. When Herbert makes a mistake in the game which chooses his life for him which is an orthodox change. “Having seen a fatal mistake after it was too late, was amiably desirous of preventing his son from seeing it.” (Jacobs 645). In the end of the story we find out that this story was dark, sinister, and suspenseful. The storm itself is the symbolism that represents good or bad, it helps the story events to unfold. The first problem is that Calixta is left by herself at home, while Bobinot and Bibi is stuck at the store for shelter. “Bobinot arose and going across the

Related Documents

  • Decent Essays

    In W.W. Jacobs novel “The Monkey’s Paw” he keeps the reader in suspense by creating tension. Jacobs uses foreshadowing as one of his main tools in the story to show the menacing results of wishing on the monkey’s paw, not wanting the whites to experience what others have suffered. In addition, he foreshadows a climatic ending by leaving the monkey’s paw with two wishes remaining in the White’s possession. The multiple reocurrences of foreshadowing creates the suspense that results in the readers keeping interesting and wanting to know more about the…

    • 92 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Every author has a distinct style, characterized by its diction, tone, and syntax, nonetheless an author can create the same mood in many different and distinct ways. In the short story “The Monkey’s Paw” by W.W. Jacobs and the Poem, “The Raven” by Edgar Allan Poe this effect is achieved. “The Monkey's Paw" is a classic, even amazing, story of supernatural suspense. The monkey's paw is a magical artifact. Anyone who owns it gets three wishes granted.…

    • 239 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    The “Tell Tale Heart” and “The Monkey’s Paw” is they both talk about what they wanted and when they need it, they regret it after a wish they have the aftermath in the Monkey’s Paw the family wishes for 3 pounds of gold and they have the aftermath then their son dies that they say when they wish for it they need to get the after math. When his wife wished for her son to come back, he came back as a zombie. When she saw her son coming he told her no and when she got to him the husband wished for his son to go back to the grave and his wife was crying and she died because he wished again and in the end his family was all dead and he sat down crying and that was the end of the Monkey's Paw.…

    • 331 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Jacobs story, “The Monkey’s Paw contains an abundant amount of foreshadowing, such as the way the father plays chess. The father takes (“radical chances”) putting his (“king in peril”) so that his son loses to him in the game. These chances that he takes, show that the father is prepared to take any kind of risk, such as the mysterious monkey’s paw to grant three wishes. The descriptions of the paw that are given by the Sergeant-Major provided more examples of foreshadowing in the story, such as when he tells the family that the monkey’s paw (“has caused him enough mischief”).…

    • 2055 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    History has shown what some people would do in positions of power and some have done great things but not all have used that wisely. In the Monkey’s Paw by W.W. Jacobs it shows many themes but the one I take away from this passage is “Power can corrupt and must be used wisely” The passage can conveys this theme with the the death of the son, fleeting sanity of the wife, of the family being torn apart. One of the main reasons why the paw can be considered evil is the cruel way it used its power to kill the son implied in this conversation between the husband and wife. “The other two wishes we’ve only had one.”…

    • 513 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The one of the causes of the feeling in “The Tell-Tale Heart” would have to be the guy whole had a vulture like pale blue eye that did not really insult anybody. And one of the things that caused different feelings in “Monkey Paws” would have to be when a few guys were walking and started to think about the stuff going on around them. The monkey paws is a story about A few guys going through many different things in same part of life. These people are Mr. White and his son and other people doing certain things on a cold wet night. This was in a forest a long time ago those certain things started to happen when they both were in the forest would have to be the people that they had to deal with people really were not the same as right now as…

    • 354 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Monkeys Paw Suspense

    • 944 Words
    • 4 Pages

    “We make up horrors to help us cope with the real ones.” ― Stephen King. People find the horror genre so intriguing because authors use literary tools to make it so irresistible. Authors use suspense as one of the literary tools.…

    • 944 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In the short story, The Tell Tale Heart, by Edgar Allan Poe, an unnamed narrator tells the story of how he aspires to convince the readers of his sanity, while delineating a murder he 's committed. In this short story, the victim of the murder was an old man who had done nothing wrong; however, the narrator was convinced that he needed to eliminate the old man and his ‘vulture - eye’ as the narrator refers to it. There are many literary devices that Poe uses throughout this short story, including symbolism. The old man’s eye, the lantern, and the heartbeat are all examples of symbolism. These three examples all tie together to represent the theme of the story, which is guilt.…

    • 1054 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Monkey’s Paw is all about a family and what happens with their lives after running across a Monkey’s paw with three wishes for three people who get a hold of it. The Monkey’s Paw has twists throughout the story and shows that the characters have some fate, family love, and shows that they care for there son. The family in the story has many ups and downs with the monkey’s paw and can get anything they want but will have bad actions coming at them soon.…

    • 487 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    It all started on a dark stormy night while playing chess. A man, from a faraway land knocked on the door. He told a tale about an magical paw, the paw would let you make 3 wishes. In the story monkey paw the sun Herbert I believe is to blame for his own death. Since Herbert was making jokes about mystical forces, I think that’s the reason he died, he said were going to be rich and famous wish to be true.…

    • 295 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Suspense is commonly felt while reading “The Monkey’s Paw”. Suspense is often used to create tension or mystery in the story. In the story “The Monkey’s Paw” by W.W Jacobs, the author creates suspense in many ways. Three ways he creates suspense in the story was through setting, irony and foreshadowing. One way W.W Jacobs creates suspense in “The Monkey’s Paw” was through setting.…

    • 560 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Monkey's Paw The story “The Monkey’s Paw” by W.W. Jacob takes place in a small house in the middle of nowhere. When the White family had a friend over from the war they find out about the monkey’s paw. One lesson the story has is wanting things you can’t have can have consequences. The monkey's paw has magical powers that give three men three wishes.…

    • 406 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    William W. Jacobs displays his existentialist nature through themes of freedom, responsibility, and death. In “The Monkey’s Paw,” Jacobs demonstrates these themes progressively through his characters and their actions after a cursed talisman eradicates all limitations. Arash Farzaneh defines existentialism as the measurement of humankind’s “responsibility when facing a universe devoid of laws.” Fundamentally unbound by religious conviction, humankind is required to take responsibility for their actions accordingly if they are to be truly free (Farzaneh). Jacobs establishes through his character Mr. White that humanity must accept responsibility for their own choices, regardless of the consequences that may follow.…

    • 2011 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The conclusion of the “Monkey’s Paw” is shrouded in mystery. W.W. Jacob’s ending is unconditionally brilliant in the sense that he allows the reader to envision their own outcome. Based on the assumption that no two minds think alike, each person who reads “The Monkey’s Paw” will have contrasting views as to how the short story will terminate. We each have diverse ideas regarding what is behind the other side of the door. I have a theory.…

    • 220 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Jacobs runs with two themes: be careful what you wish for and you can't get something for nothing. Jacobs illustrates both themes when Herbert urges his father to wish for two hundred pounds. Everything seems to be going fine the next day until Herbert leaves for work. Not long after he is gone, a strange man comes to their house and informs Mr. and Mrs. White their son has been in an accident involving the machinery he was working with and he was instantly killed. The company Herbert was working for offers to help pay for his funeral expenses by providing Mr. and Mrs. White a sum of two hundred pounds.…

    • 739 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays