The Monkeys Paw

By: Anon
B e c a r e f u l w h a t y o u w i s h f o r, y o u m a y r e c e i v e i t . - Anonymous

THE AUTHOR

Author: W.W. Jacobs

William Wymark Jacobs (8/9/1863-1/9/1943)
Born in Wapping, London, England in 8th September,
1863
Mostly his work is best known for humor
(W. W. Jacobs; LibriVox)

Family
Jacobs father worked as a dockhand and wharf
manager on the South Devon Wharf at Lower East
Smiths Field.
Mother died when he was young.
(W.W. Jacobs; SparkNotes authors, 2007; LibriVox)

Early Life
Poor at first, but worked hard and eventually had
enough money
Educated at a private school in London
Went to the Birkbeck College (Then Birkbeck Literary
and Scientific Institution, now part of the University of
London)
(W. W. Jacobs; LibriVox)

Influence on the story

He had a hard start to life, and had to work hard for
money
Known as a comic writer, so most writing is aimed at
lower and middle class.
Influenced/Inspired by Arabian Nights, Bible, and the
stories of Faust
(SparkNotes authors, 2007)

The Story

Theme
Be careful when messing with faith, there are
consequences
Be careful what you wish for, you may receive it
Be satisfied with what you have
(Cummings, 2015; SparkNotes authors, 2007)

Setting
Great Britain
Circa 1900
Laburnum Villa, Worchester
A cold and rainy night
A lonely house reasonably far from other people
(SparkNotes authors, 2007; Cummings, 2015)

Characters
Mr. White: An elderly and supposedly retired man
Mrs. White: Wife of Mr. white
Herbert White: Son of Mr. and Mrs. White, Works with some
kind of machinery at a company called Maw and Meggins
Sergeant-Major Morris: An army man, returned from India;
retired bought with him a monkeys paw talisman
(SparkNotes authors, 2007; Cummings, 2015)

Events
Mr. White and Herbert is playing chess Mr. White looses to
Herbert
Sergeant-Major Morris comes and visit with the Monkeys paw.
Telling its origin.
Mr. White buys it from Morris, despite his protest that White
should throw it away.
Mr. White wishes for 200 pounds but nothing happens that entire
night.
The next afternoon a man from Maw and Meggins. bought news
that Herbert fell into the machinery and died, thus giving them
200 pounds for compensation.
(SparkNotes authors,
2007; Cummings, 2015)

Events (continued)
10 days Later, Mrs. White persuaded Mr. White to wish
for their son to be alive again.
When their son actually comes alive and comes banging
at the door, Mr. White spends his last wish for his son to
go back.
The End
(SparkNotes authors, 2007; Cummings, 2015)

Conflict
Man vs. Fate
Sergeant-Major Morris tells the Whites that the maker of
the Monkeys Paw wanted to show that you could not
intervene with fate without consequences.
Mr. White believes that he could get his wish granted
without suffering the wraith of faith.
(SparkNotes authors, 2007; Cummings,
2015)

Climax
Whites wish is granted with his sons death and he has
gotten 200 pounds as compensation.
His wife persuaded him to wish for their son to come
back again. And he actually does.
(SparkNotes authors, 2007; Cummings,
2015)

Point of view
3rd Person omniscent: you can look into every
characters head.

References
Big B. (2015, July 6). The Monkeys Paw, Vocabulary from the short story.
Retrieved October 27th, 2015,from
https://www.visualthesaurus.com/wordlists/699400 The authors name is a
username not an actual name
Cummings, M. J. (2011). The Monkeys Paw, A Study Guide retrieved from
://www.cummingsstudyguides.net/Guides8/Monkey.html

http

LibriVox. W. W. Jacobs. Retrieved October 29th, 2015, from https

://librivox.org/author/924?primary_key=924&search_category=author&search_pag
e=1&search_form=
get_results
SparkNotes Editors. (2007). SparkNote on The Monkeys Paw. Retrieved October
29th, 2015, from
http://www.sparknotes.com/short-stories/the-monkeys-paw/context.html and
http://www.sparknotes.com/short-stories/the-monkeys-paw/section2.rhtml
W. W. Jacobs. Retrieved from http
://americanliterature.com/author/w-w-jacobs/bio-books- stories

References (continued)
Jacobs, W. W. (1902a) . The Monkeys Paw. Retrieved
October 29th, 2015 from
http
://americanliterature.com/author/w-w-jacobs/short-sto
ry/the-monkeys-paw
Jacobs, W. W. (1902b) . The Monkeys Paw. In The Lady of
the Barge (Part I) . Retrieved fromhttp
://www.gutenberg.org/files/12133/12133-h/12133-h.htm
#the-monkey-s-paw