Monkeys Paw

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With close reference to the story’s language, structure and content, explain how successful you think Jacobs is in creating an atmosphere of suspense, drama and terror in ‘The Monkey’s Paw’?

Intro:

The Monkeys Paw, written by W.W. Jacobs in 1902, is a typical example of late Victorian storytelling. At the time it was written, horror was a popular genre, and could be mass produced thanks to the new found ‘printing press’. H.G. Wells, who wrote in a similar style to Jacobs, also made short stories popular, as did the change in socio-economic factors.

Another reason these short stories were so popular was because the standards of reading and education had been greatly improved since the mid 1800s, so that by the late 1800s and early 1900s, reading material was in great demand. Thanks to the printing press, these stories were also cheap and quick to produce, often in magazines. They were also cheap for the public to buy, as an alternative to a novel by Charles Dickens or another writer of that time.

As travel in these times was in its early stages, with the plane being developed, this left the boat as the only real way to see the world, taking months to get to somewhere like India or Australia. This meant that people who were fortunate enough to travel to far away lands, often came back to tell factous tales, and exaggerate what the place was really like. This led to a lot of myths and legends being made up, such as the Monkeys Paw. As the people of this era were not as well educated as we are today, they took these myths and stories to be true, and ultimately, were scared by them.

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2nd Section:

In the stories opening, the mood amongst the characters is a relaxed one, with Mr White and Herbert playing chess and Mrs White knitting placidly by the fire. This is shown by the quote “Without, the night was cold and wet” which is saying that outside it was very bad weather and not very nice, but inside it was calm, which relates back to the mood and atmosphere of the story, set by Jacobs.

 “…Of all the beastly, slushy, out-of-the-way places to live in, this is the worst. Path’s a bog, and the road’s a torrent.” ...

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