What Is The Mood Of The Monkey's Paw

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In the short story, “The Monkey’s Paw”, by W.W. Jacobs, the story starts out as a father, Mr. White, and his son Herbert engaging in a fun, but competitive game of chess. Jacobs quickly has the mood of the story transformed from a lighthearted game of chess into a horror story when a man named Sergeant-Major Morris comes into town with a magical monkey’s paw. Because Mr. White does not think the monkey’s paw has real magic, he nonchalantly makes a wish with grave results. In Part 1 of the story, Jacobs sets the mood as a relaxed, but competitive game of chess between Mr. White and his son Herbert. The two banter back and forth while playing the game while Mrs. White listens. The game is won by Mr. and Mrs. White’s son Herbert. Jacobs then…show more content…
White interjects by saying, “I should like to see those old temples and fakirs and jugglers, what was that you started telling me about the monkey’s paw or something, Morris?” The Sergeant brushes off what Mr. White says and tries convincing the man that there is nothing special about the monkey’s paw. Their son Herbert however, was not convinced that the monkey’s paw was ordinary and wanted to inspect it more clearly. This then prompted the Sergeant to tell the story of the monkey’s paw. “It had a spell put on it by an old Fakir, a very holy man. He wanted to show that fate ruled people’s lives, and that those who interfered with it did so to their sorrow. He put a spell on it so that three separate men could each have three wishes.” This sentence entices the reader’s curiosity about the monkey’s paw itself. The story then continues with the White’s asking the Sergeant why he has not had his three wishes granted, but are surprised by his answer when he states that he has indeed had his wishes granted, but would rather not talk about it. Still not believing the monkey paw has real power, Herbert obtains the paw from…show more content…
and Mrs. White having buried their son Herbert. After being in mourning for a week, Mr. White is awakened in the middle of the night by the feeling of his wife not being beside him in bed. He then realizes his wife is standing by the window crying over the loss of her dead son Herbert. Mr. White eventually coaxes his wife back into bed only to be reawakened a short time later by his wife with an insane, almost cryptic idea. “The Paw!” she said wildly, “The Monkey’s Paw!” Mrs. White has remembered that her husband has two wishes left and she insists that he wish for their dead son to be alive again. The reader can sense that Mr. White does not want to do this when Jacobs creates a scene of Mr. White thinking about resurrecting a corpse of his son that has been rotting for over a week. Regretfully, Mr. White makes the wish and goes back up to bed. The story starts to reach its climax when Jacobs creates another suspenseful moment. Mrs. White hears a knock on the door in the middle of the night. The knock can only be one thing, Mr. and Mrs. White’s wish come true of their son being resurrected from the dead. Mrs. White then heads for the door thinking of nothing else but wanting to see her son again. Mr. White, however, cannot get the image of his dead son’s rotting corpse greeting his wife when she opens the door. Jacobs creates such a vivid picture in the reader’s mind in his description of what is going on, that the reader can

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