This week’s discussion assignment will let you tell your classmates what story you selected, give a short summary and why you liked or disliked it. You will also use at least One paraphrase (With proper APA In-Text Citations) and One quote (With proper APA In-Text Citations); you will also include the APA style Reference at the end.
The story I chose is one of the most famous and beloved works of the English writer William Wymark Jacobs – The Monkey’s Paw. A story in which the writer pushes the tension to an almost unbearable limit. Readers are introduced to the White family, relaxing in their comfortable living room, a house located in the suburbs. A storm is raging outside the windows, the weather is cold and vile when the guest, sergeant-major Morris, comes and brings with him a monkey’s paw, which has magical properties. The old guest claims that according to the spell, the paw must fulfill three wishes three times – to three different people. However, he also warned his friends that the price for the desire could be terrible (Jacobs, 1902). As expected, the family was skeptical about these words, as well as the very possibility of the fulfillment of desires by a certain magic monkey’s paw.
For the first wish – two hundred pounds – the family had to pay the most expensive price: their child. It would seem that after this they would destroy this talisman, but under the influence of grief they want to resurrect the dead son without thinking about the consequences, which did not have to wait long. “It’s my boy; it’s Herbert!” (Jacobs, 1902, p. 13), – cried the mother, chasing a rat. Unfortunately, while the fulfillment of the first desire took time, the second one was granted almost immediately, and we can only guess what the third one was. We cannot find out the price of the last wish because of the abrupt and short end, but, thanks to this story, we can once again remind ourselves that we should fear our desires.
I like this short story because in the beginning, it seems compressed, like a spring, but then it instantly unfolds and its style, devoid of details, hypnotizes readers with its depth and simplicity. It is a unique example of the combination of supernatural details and a criminal plot. The Monkey’s Paw is a chilling tale that explores important themes such as what can happen when we try to tamper with fate and the dangers of what happens when we follow our curiosity too far.
References
Jacobs, W. (1902) The Monkey’s Paw. Retrieved November 23, 2022, from https://www.lonestar.edu/departments/english/Jacob_Monkey.pdf