The Monkey's Paw

"The Monkey's Paw" By W.W. Jacobs

 Summary 

  

Sargent Major Morris throw a magic monkey paw in the fire and Mr. White gets it out and keeps it. He makes his first wish to get two hundred ponds jokingly because he does not think it is going to come true. The wish ends up coming true he gets the two hundred pounds but loses his son. The mother convinces the father to wish for the son to come back to life. The family heard a knock on the door in the middle of the night and know that it is the son.  At the end of the story, the father wishes him away.

Character:

Sargent Major Morris - the one who throws the monkey paw into the fire and warns the family that for every wish there is a negative consequence

Herbert White - son of Mr and Mrs. White, and the one who dies because the father made the wish using the magic monkey paw for two hundred pounds

Mrs. White - wife of Mr. White, Mother of Herbert White, and the one who begs Mr. White to wish for their son to come back to life

Mr. White - the husband of Mrs. White, father of Herbert White, and the one who take the monkey paw out of the fire and makes three wishes

Factory worker - a man from Herbert White's work who tells the parents that there son Herbert got stuck in the machinery and died

Plot Elements:

Exposition - Sargent Major Morris throws the magic monkey paw away in the fire.

Rising Action - Mr. White fishes the monkey paw out of the fire and makes a wish that he will get two hundred pounds.

Climax - His wish for the two hundred pounds comes true but his son dies.

Resolution - Mrs. White begs Mr. White to wish for their son to come back to life so Mr. White wishes for him but then they heard knocking on the door, Mrs. White knew that it was her son so she runs to the door Mr. White wishes that his son would go away and the knocking stops.

Analysis:

Now you should know that you should be careful about what you wish for because it does not always make you happy. The man and his wife were upset because their son's death, after they wished for the two hundred pounds. When Mrs. White convinces Mr. White to wish for their son to come back he does come back. When the son comes knocking on the door, the father wishes that he would go away so that the mother would not have the pain of seeing her son after he had gone through the machinery.