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The Monkey's Paw: Difference between revisions
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''[[The Monkey's Paw]]'' is a horror story written by W. W. Jacobs in 1902. An incredible number of stories in different media have played on it through different variations and adaptations, and it is a subject of frequent parody.
The story begins as Mr. and Mrs. White, average people with a grown son named Herbert, are visited by an old friend of theirs who was a sergeant in India. While there, he got a magical talisman called The Monkey's Paw, which he gives to them while first warning them that its previous owners killed themselves for their third wish. Too excited by its mystical powers, Mr. White first wishes for 200 pounds. He gets his wish, but at a price. The story [[It Got Worse|continues this way]] until the most dramatic moment, and they learn their lesson: [[Tempting Fate|don't tempt fate]], and [[Be Careful What You Wish For]].
The full story can be found [http://www.steve-calvert.co.uk/public-domain-texts/W-W-Jacobs-The-Monkeys-Paw.html here.]
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* [[An Aesop]]: The monkey's paw was charmed by an old fakir to teach people that fate rules people's lives and those who interfere will be punished.
* [[Artifact of Doom]]: The monkey's paw.
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* [[Literal Genie]]
* [[Make a Wish]]
* [[Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane]]: According to the sergeant, this is how the wishes normally go. Only Mr. White can tell that the paw "twisted like a snake" when he wished with it, and it's never proven that the knocking was Herbert. Definitely leaning to the side of "magic," though.
* [[Nothing Is Scarier]]: The walking corpse knocks suspensefully over and over. Because Mr. White knows that Herbert's body is horribly mutilated, Mr. White uses his last wish to wish Herbert dead again. Nothing is there when they open the door.
** The fact that Herbert is only described as "caught in the machinery" and Mr. White was only able to identify him "by his clothes" are also an example, leaving the exact nature of Herbert's death up to the reader.
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* [[Tempting Fate]]
* [[Three Wishes]]
* [[The Un
* [[You Can't Fight Fate]]: The entire point behind the creation of the paw was to teach this lesson.
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Horror Literature]]
[[Category:The
[[Category:Literature]]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Monkey's Paw, The}}
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