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Theme Of The Monkeys Paw

Decent Essays

“The Monkey’s Paw,” by W.W. Jacobs is a short horror story. It tells the account of a family, whose lives are changed forever after acquiring the cursed paw of a monkey. W.W. Jacobs uses the plot conflict format to tell this story. A plot conflict essay is made up of five elements that explain the conflict as well as the events leading up to it and its aftermath. The introduction, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution are all elements to a story. The introduction of a story is where the author introduces the characters and the setting. In “The Monkey’s Paw,” the reader meets Mr. and Mrs. White and their son Herbert White. Mr. and Mrs. White are an older couple and Mr. White’s mind is a little slow. Herbert is younger and works …show more content…

In “The Monkey’s Paw, ” Mr. and Mrs. White are mourning the loss of their son after burying him in the cemetery. One night Mr. White wakes to hear his wife crying and tries to coax her back to bed, but she keeps sobbing. Later in the night he is awakened again by his wife who has gotten an idea. She wants to use the second wish to raise her son from the dead. Mr. White does not want to wish his son alive again because he saw the way Herbert’s body looked after the accident. Mrs. White is on the brink of going mad and scares her husband. Mr. White reluctantly wishes for their son to be alive again. When nothing happens and they do not see their son and they both give up on the wish. However, after some time they hear a three knocks at the door. Mrs. White runs to the door as Mr. White grabs her arm and tries to stop her. Mrs. White breaks loose and grabs a chair to be able to reach the door bolt. Mr. White searches frantically for the paw, knowing he has to use the third wish before his wife open the door. The resolution is the ending of the story that ties all the loose ends together and resolves the conflict. In “The Monkey's Paw,” readers are left hanging. When Mrs. White opened the door there was no one around and the road was completely deserted. Because of this we assume Mr. White’s third wish was to send his son back to the grave. The lesson to be learned from “The Monkey’s Paw,”

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