The family is described as a “little family circle,” this suggests a close knit family, this later contrasts with the ending of the story where it appears that the circle has broken and the closeness has fell apart perhaps dew to the death of the son, or the mystifying powers of the Monkey’s paw which is subject to creating the suspense and horror further in the story.
The paw is introduced into the story, in my opinion I think the Monkey’s Paw is almost like another character as it has such involvement on the story, though it cannot speak and does nothing but twist in the old man’s hands “like a snake”, the perplexing magical innuendo of the Monkey’s Paw is one of the main sources of horror and suspense, the not knowing what powers it entails much like a rollercoaster ride not knowing the speed or exhilaration it involves is what makes it a terrifying factor in the story. The word “snake” adds to the evil and supernatural power that is being held in the story.
Once the Monkey’s Paw has entered the conversation the tension builds and the tone of the family is expressed in eager ways of wanting to know more of the paw, Mr. White inquires about the paw but the soldier is hasty to show he wishes the family to forget about the paw with a scary superstitious message, that people who interfere with fate do so “to their sorrow”. The son is the first person to take interest towards the monkey’s paw; this is quite ironic as he is the one who dies.
The atmosphere in the story darkens as the manner of the soldier is solemn and grows darker as he tells how he came to have the paw; this creates suspense, as the final wish of the man before that had it was death. The mention of death makes the suspense and horror creep in at this point in the story, the approach of the soldier makes the readers believe what he says, and we think the family is naive and stupid to mock what is said. I think this is what makes the story more shocking as we as readers know that because the family are being so immature there will be a price to pay.
When the old man wishes for two hundred pounds at the sound of the piano crashing as the son mocks the monkey’s paw this creates a shuddering suspense, which is further expressed as the son is so disrespectful towards the monkey’s paw and states that he will never see the money, this is very true as he is the one who dies. I think W.W. Jacobs picked the son on purpose to die and portrays him as a disrespectful and impolite person so that the readers are “rewarded” with his death as he seems constantly insolent. The way the son is so impudent but also young and innocent makes the story have another flurry and burst of suspense and horror.
Coming towards the end of part one of the three part story we read about the vivid image the son sees in the fire, the readers have many questions about the “simian” images of the faces, could these ape like images be in the fire as a result to the Monkey’s Paw being thrown into the fire, or is it a connection with the wish and that it is actually the sons face in the fire as a premonition on his death, or could it be a curse of using the Monkey’s Paw, there is no direct translation but the vivid image of this creates a terrifying atmosphere and the readers are prolonged to find out what is going to happen in the second chapter.
The setting at the beginning of the second part of the story is pleasant which contrasts with the last vivid image in the first chapter, this doesn’t last for long. With a final touch of irony Herbert the son leaves for work with a tongue-in cheek comment “don’t break into the money before I come back,” which is morbid and creates a growing suspicion as the readers can sense that because of all his comments he may not return home. This creates a dark and sinister atmosphere.
Suspense comes to an anti-climax as another visitor from Herbert’s work comes to the house and is nervous, he comes with bad news and with a bound of horror we find out that yes the wish did come true, but at the price of Herbert’s life. In the final lines at the end of chapter two we are horrified as compensation is mentioned, with the “two hundred pounds” sum mentioned, which greets the readers with shock and partly remorse at the curse of the monkey’s “shrivelled mummified” paw.
In the third and final chapter of the short story, it creates the utmost tension, horror, and suspense. As we find out that the mother wants to use one of two wishes to bring her son back to life we are appalled but in wonder of what will happen, the image of a mangled body is in our minds. As the dialogue fastens in story we hear her desire and panting for the wish to be wished for. Though in contrast the old man stammers and is beside himself with revolt as he imagines his son alive in a distorted body. This image is not described in the story but we can imagine what the son would look like as he was “caught in the machinery”.
There is another anti-climax when the old man finally wishes for his son to be alive again, the readers wonder in astonishment if the son will come back in his garbled body or if indeed the first wish occurred by coincidence. We think this is the case as there is no suggestion the son is coming back and both parents go to bed, but we are greeted with the almost unearthly knocking at the door, this creates the propelling suspense and the overwhelming horror as the mother scurries to the door in a fluster as she can’t open the door, whilst the father is on his hands and knees groping wildly for the monkey’s paw. The climax comes to a spell bounding end as the father finds the monkey’s paw before the door is completely opened and the final wish is used to get rid of whatever the thing was that knocked at the door. The story ends in wonder as the suspense and horror is fulfilled in a surprising and shocking ending that is similar to W.W. Jacob’s style of writing.
“The Tell-Tale Heart” was written by Edgar Allan Poe who was born on 1809 in Massachusetts the son of actors Elizabeth Hopkins and David Poe. Edgar attended school in Chelsea and attended the University of Virginia, he became accustom to gambling debt and so became an army man, during this time he wrote various stories and poems.
He married his wife Virginia but when she died in 1847. Edgar became erratic and turned to alcoholism which some say he died from. During his time he had became an American poet, critic and a short story writer who contributed mostly to the genre of horror and science fiction. “A Tell-Tale Heart” is one of Edgar’s most recognised short stories.
“A Tell-Tale heart” was written in 1843, in the midst of all Edgar’s misfortunes and troubles with the death of his wife and his alcoholism. I think part of his calamity has been portrayed in this troubling story, in my opinion it shows the state of mind Edgar must have felt. The confusion and the overall amount of destruction in the story I think relates in some ways to his life.
In the “A Tell Tale Heart” the main character, the narrator, has a problem with an old man, the antagonist, whom he is living with. He begins to tell his story in a fanatical tone of voice but trying very hard to portray himself as a sane person, he describes calmly that he is going to kill the old man. The odd thing is that the problem has nothing to do with the old man, how he acts, or even his attitude towards the narrator. It is simply one of the old man's eyes; the narrator's description of the eye is that it resembled that of a vulture, pale blue with a film over it. This is absolutely terrifying right at the beginning of the story it enters straight into pure horror, the shocking revelation that this crazy man is going to kill somebody else captures the interest of the readers, we are scared but can’t stop reading as we want to know how he is going to kill the man even though we know it is going to happen we want to know his actions before the final event.
The story involves an old man, the antagonist, the police, and the protagonist, who is also the narrator, and tells the story from his point of view. On the other hand we have no idea of the relationship between the antagonist, the old man and the narrator, but what is told to us by the narrator. One tends to wonder if they were related or was he simply a servant for hire and therefore cared for the old man. The narrator has left a lot to our imagination on the relationship of the characters.
The narrators insanity has made him a very paranoid man, he believes that everyone is trying to make a fool of him, even though he believed he carried out a perfect murder. He bragged about his preparation of waiting “seven long nights” before he could kill the old man. The narrator is fully aware what madness is, but cannot bring himself to believe that he is insane. He believes that since he is able to recollect and present every detail of the events that took place proves that he is not insane it seems that he is in denial and this is a very spooky revelation as we continue to read about his planning of the murder and his stealth surrounding it.
He believes that he is sane because of the manner in which he carried out the crime of murder. His reason for wanting the old man dead is without motive. "I loved the old man. He had never wronged me. He had never given me insult. For his gold I had no desire" the narrator thinks that he has no clear motive and that he loves the old man but that he must kill him to get rid of his demons. This is a frightening thought as we wait for the inevitable to happen it is also more horrifying because the reason is so bizarre.
The truth in the matter is that he knows he cannot bring himself to admit to the point that only a mad man would kill someone just because of the way their eyes looked. ‘It was not the old man who vexed me, but his evil eye.’ He tries to explain his reason without implicating himself. The narrator makes us aware of his illness by presenting us with the fact that his sense of hearing is acute. "I heard all things in the heavens and in the earth." Who in their right mind have the hearing capability to hear sounds in heaven or hell to further prove a point of insanity? One must also asked oneself, who in their right mind would go through such a process to kill some old man, just because of an old eye? By telling the story in such detail, the narrator proves he is mad.
The greatest moment of suspense in the story is when the narrator and the old man are aware of each others presence in the dark setting at night, this gives the readers and eerie feeling, the fact that he old man’s killer has lived with him whilst he feared for robbers is satirical. The readers actually feel sorry for the old man; we are petrified for him as the suspense makes us wait longer to the moment where he is killed.
The pace is building when the narrator kills the man; he begins to believe that he is hearing the old man's heart beating, while he was killing him and after he is dead. The “hellish tattoo of the heart” lets us imagine the deep building rhythm of the murderous actions taking place, when finally the deed is done the horror and suspense does not escape there but we are left without no need for an imagination as he “dismembered the corpse” and the narrator goes into fluent detail of the various body parts being chopped up, the vivid image of this is just horrific but matter of fact tone.
When the police arrive the narrator tries to prove himself as cunning and happy, he tries to show no remorse with his “perfect triumph” but this turns sour as he hears the pounding becoming louder and louder, and this drives him crazy. It forces him to tell the police officers, who are searching his house, that he killed the old man and showed them were the body is buried, which is the most ironic and the last thing you would think to happen. The irony comes into play when his heightened sense of hearing and sober madness is the cause of his downfall. How ironic, the same craze that led him to kill the man is the same craze that led him to his demise and covers the period of one week and the relentless pursuit of perfect preparation the narrator went through to commit murder without getting caught but failing to do so.
The monologue story written in the past tense ends in the admission of the crazed narrator, this type of story is of the horror genre, and it is a good example of the work of Edgar, who specifically concentrated on mental ways in which he could captivate his audience through suspense and horror.
I think in contrast that both these two short stories “The Monkey’s Paw” and “A Tell-Tale Heart” are extremely alike in many ways, both trying to captivate their readers by providing them with snippets of spine-chilling horror and suspense. “The Monkey’s Paw” is more centered on the idea of fate and how much it can control people’s lives, whilst “The Tell-Tale Heart” is about insanity of the mind and the deep and vivid descriptions about the planning of the murder.
“The Monkey’s Paw” is a lot longer with three separate chapters whereas “A Tell-Tale heart” is just a few pages long, but both these stories are enchanting and detain the readers’ interest throughout with horror and suspense.
“The Monkey’s Paw” has an oriental feel about the style of writing and the object of the paw, this is more of an Indian style, whereas in “A Tell-Tale Heart” there is just a feeling of craziness, with a slight American influence in the style of writing.
In my opinion both stories end in mourning, in “The Monkey’s Paw” it is the loss of the son and the parents’ grieve that we can feel a particular sadness, where as in “A Tell-Tale Heart” it is the death of the old innocent man, with maybe a slight cancellation of his body being found and his murderer having been found with no trouble.
Overall I think both stories effectively interest readers with compelling descriptions in both stories that create heightened anxiety, creeping suspense with many climaxes and certainly a magnitude of horror. Both stories I thoroughly enjoyed and with the same exhilaration as going on a rollercoaster.
