I wish this paper was over. The Monkey’s Paw is a short horror story written by W.W. Jacobs. The story follows the White family who are given a wish granting monkey paw from Mr. White’s old army buddy. What seems to be a treasure is quickly deduced to actually be a curse. The wishes all become true, but only do so with a terrible twist of fate. Ultimately this leads to the White’s misery, and the death of their son Herbert. This classic tale has been reimagined through multiple mediums including film and theatre. Although both mediums tell the story well the film version from WSKG Public Media has slight nuances that make it a better entertainment experience. The film and play version dramatized by Mara Rockliff of The Monkey’s Paw both use
…show more content…
The themes of the story are major part of what makes the story so impactful, and scary. Greed is one of the central themes of the story. Someone getting what they desire is not bad, but the consequences of what it took to get it might be too much. The White family’s greed is the root of their problems. If Mr. White would have listened to Morris and let the paw burn they would all be living. Mr. White however couldn’t wait just a little longer to finish paying off his debt, and because he was blinded by greed he did not heed Morris’s warning leading to his son’s death. He then has to waste his last wishes because having the house paid off wasn’t enough for the Whites, they needed their son back. Now the Whites have nothing but sorrow, and this theme is illustrated the same way in both versions. The theme of death is represented better in the film version of the book. Part of what makes the death theme better in the film is how much more time is spent on scene two and three which are about the death of Herbert. One reason the film illustrates this theme better is the use of more foreshadowing. In both there is obvious foreshadowing from Morris about what will happen with use of the paw. In the film however Mr. White is unsettled when he looks into the fire calling out to his wife “Mother, mother mother… I saw faces in the fire.” this helps play up the super natural forces of the
The themes of the story are major part of what makes the story so impactful, and scary. Greed is one of the central themes of the story. Someone getting what they desire is not bad, but the consequences of what it took to get it might be too much. The White family’s greed is the root of their problems. If Mr. White would have listened to Morris and let the paw burn they would all be living. Mr. White however couldn’t wait just a little longer to finish paying off his debt, and because he was blinded by greed he did not heed Morris’s warning leading to his son’s death. He then has to waste his last wishes because having the house paid off wasn’t enough for the Whites, they needed their son back. Now the Whites have nothing but sorrow, and this theme is illustrated the same way in both versions. The theme of death is represented better in the film version of the book. Part of what makes the death theme better in the film is how much more time is spent on scene two and three which are about the death of Herbert. One reason the film illustrates this theme better is the use of more foreshadowing. In both there is obvious foreshadowing from Morris about what will happen with use of the paw. In the film however Mr. White is unsettled when he looks into the fire calling out to his wife “Mother, mother mother… I saw faces in the fire.” this helps play up the super natural forces of the