The Monkey's Paw Short Story Theme

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The first topic I will be talking about is theme. In my opinion, the theme in “The Monkey’s Paw” is that your choices have consequences. In the story, Morris chose to introduce the White family to the paw. The text says “It just a bit of what you might call magic“. Morris is clearly acting mysteriously and this causes the white family to be curious about the paws powers. When they wish, they suffer the consequence of Herbert's death. In “The Old Grandfather and His Little Grandson”, I think that the theme is also consequence of choice. In this story the Daughter-in-law behaves very disrespectfully. The text says “Tears filled their eyes” and “They were ashamed for treating him so meanly”. Her choice made her son realize that he could treat her the same way unless she changed her behavior. In both of these texts, it is evident that The choices we make not only affect us, but can also affect those around us. The next topic I will talk about is Characterization. In “The Monkey’s Paw” and “The Grandfather”, The author uses indirect characterization. In “The Monkey’s Paw”, Mr. White is greedy. The text says “White, with a slight cry, stooped down and snatched it off” and later, Mr white wishes for …show more content…
The authors of these stories use tone in different ways to help us understand different elements in a story. In “The Monkey’s Paw”, The author uses tone to help us understand that the paw has a negative impact. For example, The text says “As I wished, it twisted in my hands like a snake.” The author uses the word “snake” to portray a negative consequence. In “The Grandfather”, The author says “The young peasant and his wife looked at each other and tears filled their eyes. They were ashamed because they had treated the old grandfather so meanly,”. This example from the text shows that she understands that she made a bad choice. Both of these texts show that you should be careful about what you do and think through your
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