The Monkey's Paw by W. W. Jacobs --- Analysis

'The Monkey's Paw' by W. W. Jacobs is a supernatural story. The readers may also conclude that what happened in the story were just coincidences, giving the impression that the author was trying to create suspense through these events. The actions were built around the traditional theme of fulfilling three wishes.

The plot began with a description of a usual evening of the family who reunited with their old acquaintance. This guest brought the monkey's paw from India which had the power to grand the three wishes of its owner. Nobody believed in it before the head of the family, the old man, jokingly asked for two hundred pounds. It was the first wish.

Next day started, as usual, the son of the old man went to his job but he didn't return in time. The manager of the company where the son worked came to their house and said that their son died in a tragic accident at his workplace. He brought also as compensation for it --- two hundred pounds.

In her desperation, the wife of the old man begged him to make a second wish to bring their son home. He did it. They heard a loud knock at the door. “It's my boy; it's Herbert!” the old lady cried. Let go. I must open the door.” “Don't let it in,” cried the old man, trembling”.

The old man found the monkey's paw and made his third and last wish. The knocking ceased suddenly, the door opened. A cold wind rushed up the staircase.

There is an important detail from the beginning of this narration. The previous owner of monkey's paw tried to throw it into a fire, to escape from it. Think before accepting something "for free".



This is the link to the text of the story:
https://caems.buncombeschools.org/common/pages/UserFile.aspx?fileId=3233070