"Monkey's Paw" by W.W Jacobs - Recurring Theme

Moral in Every Story

In every story there is a moral or theme, which is the lesson the main character learns or should have learned. This could be anything from respecting your parents to something like being considerate to other people's feelings."The Monkey's Paw" by W.W Jacob is a classic horror story in which tragedy strikes the White family. A man named Sergeant-Major Morris brings a monkey's paw into their lives which is said to grant three wishes, which instead creates chaos.The theme for this story is to be careful for what you wish for because it can bring sadness.

In the story, when Sergeant-Major Morris throws the monkey's paw into the fire, Mr. White quickly grabs the paw from the fire. The Sergeant Major then warns Mr. White to throw back in the fire because he told them about a man who had two wishes and suffered the consequences.

The Monkey's Paw (film)

Abudefduf saxatilis

School of Sergeant Major fish-2007-08-06

On the man's third wish he had wished that he could die because he was so depressed. This supports the theme considering that the Sergeant Major tells Mr. White that if he wishes for something, there could be consequences and sorrow. Another example in the story is when the White family wishes for money. When they do, their son dies in a accident at his job. His employer then pays them the exact same amount they wished for. This demonstrates the theme because when they wished for money, their son had died.

In addition, the White family's second wish was to bring back their son from the dead. Mr. White then tried to explain to Mrs. White that if they wished their son back, he would look mangled up because of the machinery accident that he was in. This supports the theme because if they wished their...