When the Sergeant Major walks towards to the house the writer gives you the impression he is a large scary man by putting “as the gate banged too loudly and heavy footsteps came towards the door” but as the story goes on you realise he is a old small man.
After the Sergeant Major has been at the house and is on his third glass of scotch he starts to tell stories about the war and the plague. It emphasises that the man is a bit of a traveller and has seen some strange things. He is telling his tales to the father and son.
When the father and Sergeant start talking the father says “when we went away he was a slip of a youth in the warehouse. Now look at him.” This tells you that the father and Sergeant Major have been friends for along time.
When the two start talking about India there is a hint of mystery to keep you wanting to continue reading on, it’s like something is going to happen, “I should like to see those old temples and fakirs and jugglers”.
The father then asks the Sergeant Major about the monkey’s paw and the Sergeant replies with “Nothing” “ Leastways nothing worth hearing about”. Even though he says it is nothing you get a feeling that it is something but he doesn’t want to tell you for some reason-so it must be interesting.
The Sergeant Major then caves in and starts telling Mr White and his son about the monkey’s paw and how a old fakir put a spell on it because he wanted to show that fate ruled peoples lives, and that those who interfered with it did so to their sorrow. With this sentence the writer describes the moral of the story and the philosophy of life.
The father then asks if he has had his three wishes and reply’s “I have” but his blotchy face whitens which tells the reader something scary happened when he made his wishes. He then tells them that his wishes have come true but he doesn’t know why he keeps it.
The Sergeant Major then makes the decision of not selling the monkey’s paw to the father and chucks it in the fire. At this point the father is already tempted by the offer and bends down and grabs it out of the fire.
Mrs White then walks out to the kitchen to put the dinner on and says “Don’t you think you might wish for four pairs of hands for me?” This tells the reader that the wife doesn’t believe in the whole three wishes malarkey, so she jokes about it.
Eventually after all this discussion Mr White decides to buy the monkey’s paw. He then takes the paw from his pocket and thinks about what to wish for then says, “It seems to me I’ve got all I want”. The writer uses this as reverse psychology because if he has all he wants why would he want the paw so much in the first place.
After wishing for £200 to pay off the rest of his mortgage, the two men sit back down to finish their pipes. Then the writer describes outside “the wind was higher than ever” adding a horror genre to the story.
Eventually Mr White ends up sitting on his own in front of the fire and thinks the fire is getting a bit to powerful, so he throws a glass of water over it. This has a hidden meaning; it tells the reader that Mr white now doesn’t feel safe and warm in his house like he did at the beginning of the story. It is as if things are becoming out of control.
The next morning the Whites son leaves the breakfast table and walks down the road out of sight when Mr White walks down stairs he looks into the lounge and sees the “dirty, shrivelled little paw” on the side this makes you think that the paw is not magical but dirty and horrible looking. A man then arrives at the house informing Mr and Mrs White that their son has died and both have inherited some money. Mr White replies with “how much” already thinking that the monkey’s paw has something to do with it. The man replies with “two hundred pounds” at that instant both Mr and Mrs White realise it’s too much of a coincidence that this is the exact amount to pay off their mortgage. The monkey’s paw may have bought them the money they needed but it has also meant the death of their son.
After the sons funeral everybody is “steeped in shadow and silence” and goes back to the house which has changed from which has being fun to no laughter, no joking, no fun and no son.
That night Mr and Mrs White go to bed. Mr white has dosed off when Mrs White shouts “the paw! She wailed loudly the monkeys paw”. The wife realises that they still have two wishes left and asks Mr White to use one of their wishes to wish their son alive again.
After a lot of arguement Mr White agrees and wishes for his son alive again. This tells the reader that Mr White can do what he wants but can be persuaded in to doing other things.
The next evening with everyone thinking that is impossible for their wish to come true, there is a knock at the door to outside were it is dark and windy.
Mr and Mrs White and the Sergeant Major all look at each other in great horror thinking that the wish has come true. Mrs White then runs In despair to open the door but Mr White holds her back. Mrs White escapes from her husband’s hands and trys to open the door. As Mrs White trys to open the door Mr White searches for the paw. Just as he hears the sliding of the lock on the door he finds the paw and frantically breaths his last wish. Then the knocking stops but the echoes carry on through the house as the door opens. There is a wail of disappointment from Mrs White and Mr White walks over to her to comfort her.
The psychological meaning to this story is sometimes wishing for material things can bring bad luck, so you shouldn’t be greedy.
