‘The Monkey’s Paw’ – W.W. Jacobs


Page Count: 28 Pages

Yesterday was a day in the office so as ever, the journey home was just the right amount of time for reading a short story :o)

‘The Monkey’s Paw’ first appeared in ‘Harper’s Monthly’ way back in September 1902 (much obliged Wikipedia) and I came across it while having my lunchtime bagel yesterday. I was having a look at the plot for ‘The Monkey’ (thanks again Wikipedia) which led to the Stephen King story, of the same name, and finally, what looked like the root inspiration for those tales. I was intrigued and that was all it took for me to find myself a copy of ‘The Monkey’s Paw’ and give it a go myself.

Mr. and Mrs. White are about to learn the price you must pay when you interfere with fate; a lesson they will learn courtesy of a withered monkey’s paw…

‘The Monkey’s Paw’ is a creepy tale that doesn’t hang around getting to the heart of the matter, a very effective exploration of human greed and what inevitably happens when this is set against fate, no matter how small the request. Honestly, Mr. and Mrs. White should have just left the monkey’s paw in the fire and been happy with their lot.

You can see it coming but the consequences of their first wish still manages to hit the target very effectively, targeting what they love most in the world. Where ‘The Monkey’s Paw’ really comes into its own though is with the second wish and how the tension ramps up almost unbearably as a result, especially as you never see what is lurking outside. Jacobs really handles things well here, drawing out the tension to almost breaking point and then hitting us with that third wish.

And I think that third wish is handled best of all, really laying it on the line that there is a huge price to be paid for the Whites to be protected from whatever is banging on the door. They get to live but… was it worth it? That’s a hell of a question to end things on and fair play to Jacobs for ending things on a high.

Payday is just round the corner and ‘The Monkey’s Paw’ did its job well enough that I am very tempted to spring for a copy of Jacobs’ collected works if I can find one. I found a Kindle copy of ‘The Monkey’s Paw’ for only 53p so definitely worth looking at if you fancy a quick, creepy read.

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