The Monkey’s Paw –Story Analysis

Imagination can take over and lead the mind on a journey to new beginnings. The author leaves the reader to discover underlying meanings while grasping the concept between reality and make-believe. Reading an interesting novel will give the readers a burst of different emotions, for example horror stories and thrillers leave the reader excited and eager for more, while romance makes them wish for the little things they do not have. While searching for the underlying intent, it is inevitable to come across many acts of representation, including the oblivious ones. At the end of a novel the reader gains knowledge and understanding of the author’s implications. As the story opens, the scene inside Laburnam Villa is contrasted with the scene outside. Outside, it's a typical dark and stormy night. Inside things are warm and cheery, with chess, knitting, and a roaring fire. People can always have a cheerful day no matter what the weather is like outside. As the story progresses, the house becomes progressively darker and spookier – complete with creaking stairs, strange shadows from candles and things that go bump in the night. After Herbert dies, the reader is told that the house becomes, "steeped in shadow and silence" (3.3). Mr. and Mrs. White also undergo an upsetting change, transforming from a happy couple into parents racked by grief. It is common for happy couples to have their off days, not everyone can be happy all the time. During the sergeant-major’s visit, Mrs. White is as eager as Herbert and Mr. White are to hear the tales of his exploits abroad. Everybody likes to hear stories from their friend’s travels, people have a natural curiosity. She is more willing to consider the truth of the monkey-paw story than Herbert is, but she is far less credulous than her husband. Indeed, she often shows herself to be more quick-witted than Mr. White. For example, she understands the significance of the Maw and Meggins representative’s visit before her husband does, and she is the one to suggest wishing on the monkey’s paw a second time to bring Herbert back to life. When it comes to loved ones people will do just about anything for them. The death of her son and the belief that it might have been prevented nearly drive Mrs. White insane. Her transformation is far less dramatic than her son’s, but she still changes from an intelligent, self-possessed woman into a raving, shrieking, weeping mourner. Everyone handles loss in their own ways and some handle it far worse than anyone else.
Mr. White’s grief is twofold as he laments his son’s death as well as his decision to wish on the monkey’s paw in the first place. Unlike his wife, Mr. White realizes he should have never invited trouble by wishing for the two hundred pounds or to bring Herbert back to life. The fact that he believes an unholy creature stands knocking at his door instead of his son suggests that he feels guilty for having let selfishness overtake him when he made his wishes. Clearly people should be careful what they wish for, they never know what they’ll get. Instead of passing off the knocking as an unrelated coincidence, he immediately jumps to the conclusion that evil stands on the other side, as if believing the paw has punished him for being greedy. Anybody can be taken over by greed. His decision to wish the unwanted visitor away with his third wish may reflect his desire to not only save his and Mrs. White’s lives, but also redeem himself for his sins.
Everything that the paws owner could possibly wish for and the unrestricted ability to make it happen. This power makes the paw alluring, even to unselfish people who desire nothing and have everything they need. Mr. White, for example, hastily retrieves the paw from the fire, even though he himself admits that he wouldn’t know what to wish for if he owned the paw. Its potential also prompts Herbert to half-jokingly suggest wishing for money the Whites don’t really need, ostensibly just to see what happens. The paw grants Mr. White’s wishes by killing Herbert and raising his corpse from the grave in an unexpected and highly sinister twist. At the same time, however, the paw’s omnipotent power may be misperceived, because Herbert’s death may have been entirely coincidental and the knocks on the door may be from someone other than his living corpse. “"If you could have another three wishes," said the old man, eyeing him keenly, "would you have them" (3, 5)?
Maw and Meggins is the name of the company that owns the factory where Herbert works. The reader never visits this place, and never learns exactly what is done there or what Herbert's job is. They don't learn whether carelessness on Herbert's part, unsafe conditions, or something else caused his death. This setting is important because it highlight one of the story's more serious issues: working conditions in factories in the early 1900s.
The possible transformation of Herbert White from a gentle, happy, and devoted young man into a threatening monster is the central horror of “The Monkey’s Paw.” A thoughtful and loving son, Herbert plays chess with his father and gently teases his mother. He is the only member of the family who works, so readers can assume that he supports his parents in their old age. Some would say that it is the child’s job to take care of their parents in their old age as they took care of the child at a young age. Herbert believes that Sergeant-Major Morris’s stories are nothing but a pack of tall tales and treats the monkey’s paw with irreverent humor. Remember everyone, you shouldn’t believe everything that someone says. He encourages his father to wish for an emperorship and then jokingly suggests he wish for two hundred pounds to pay off the mortgage. Herbert does not believe for a moment that the paw is magical, but he unwittingly predicts the outcome of the wish when he tells his parents that he knows he’ll never see the money. People should really watch what they say and be careful what they wish for. The sunny, skeptical quality of Herbert’s nature makes his eventual transformation, induced by his father’s wish, more horrifying. Mr. White fears that his son has become a horribly mangled, evil being, after wishing him back to life. No one should be wished back to life after they have passed. It may hurt but people should let the dead rest in peace. The fact that Jacobs never actually describes who—or what—knocks repeatedly on the Whites’ door, however, suggests that the caller may not really be Herbert’s revived corpse.
Those who play a daring, risky game of chess, for example, will lose, just as those who take unnecessary risks in life will die. When the story opens, Mr. White and Herbert play chess by the fire, and the game’s outcome mirrors the story’s outcome. Mr. White, the narrator explains, has a theory of “radical changes” concerning chess. He takes terrible, unnecessary risks with his king, risks that make his wife nervous as she watches the game unfold. As he plays, he notices that he has made a mistake that will prove deadly. The risks and mistakes Mr. White makes playing chess parallel the risks and mistakes he makes wishing on the monkey’s paw. These mistakes ultimately lead to Herbert’s death, the most “radical change” of all. “Mr. White, who, having seen a fatal mistake after it was too late, was amiably desirous of preventing his son from seeing it” (1, 2).
It becomes essential for any individual that is pursuing a work of writing to come away with a new outlook of life and or the universe around them. Throughout this tale you will see how greed and desire can take over people’s rational being and how it can and will change lives of those who being effected. What individuals can learn about desires and greed can take the reader on a ride full of surprises. Through dangerous situations that can leave the readers impaired to the outcomes or consequences that follow ones actions. Through murder and deceit people will arise with the truth that can take hold and in the end not let go. Readers will take this and learn new life lessons.