U1 The Monkey's Paw Story Elements

Define

An element is a building block, an ingredient, one part that makes up a whole. A story element is something that
contributes to a story, one of several building blocks that make it effective. These elements usually include setting,
character, plot, conflict, and theme. The way an author introduces each of these elements into a narrative, and
connects them so that one has an effect on another, is what can make a story memorable. The setting, or the time
and place in which the story occurs, can affect the events of the plot, which in turn can have an effect on the
characters and their relationship to one another. This can influence the conflict the characters face and, as a
consequence, shape the theme.

Identification and Application:

●Jot down notes to summarize the most important events in the plot, where and when these events take
place, and who the key characters are. Then ask yourself, What is the story’s main conflict, or problem?

●Identify ways in which one element influences the others. You can do this by imagining the plot with other
characters, or the characters in a different setting.

●Consider how a character’s attitude or circumstance creates a problem in the story, or how details of the
setting make his or her situation dangerous or amusing.

●Analyze how particular lines of dialogue or incidents in the story propel the action, reveal aspects of a
character, or provoke a decision.

●Relate plot, character, and setting to the theme, or central idea, of the text. How do the individual elements
deepen a reader’s understanding?

Model

An isolated villa, the familiar “dark and stormy night,” and a mysterious visitor. The short story “The Monkey’s Paw”
has all the elements of a good suspense story.

The author, W.W. Jacobs, opens the story by contrasting the threatening weather outside with the warm, cozy
atmosphere inside the villa. “Without, the night was cold and wet, but in the small parlour of Laburnam Villa the
blinds were drawn and the fire burned brightly.” A father and his son enjoy a game of chess, while the man’s wife
knits “placidly by the fire.” But the nasty weather outside still cannot be ignored. “Hark at the wind,” Mr. White tells
his son. He wonders if the visitor he expects will arrive to get his mind off the game. Then he explodes:

“That's the worst of living so far out,” bawled Mr. White, with sudden and unlooked-for violence; “of all
the beastly, slushy, out-of-the-way places to live in, this is the worst. Pathway's a bog, and the road's a
torrent. I don't know what people are thinking about. I suppose because only two houses in the road are
let, they think it doesn't matter.”

This outburst reveals that the White family lives in an out of the way setting. Only “one or two houses in the road
are let,” or rented out, so they are fairly isolated from their neighbors. The setting and the weather do not stop
Sergeant-Major Morris from visiting his friend, however, and upon his arrival he tells the White family the tale of
the monkey’s paw, which can grant three wishes to three men. He then chucks the paw on the fire and Mr. White,
horrified, picks it up and keeps it, much to the sergeant’s dismay.

Model

After Morris leaves, Herbert convinces his father to make a wish, asking for two hundred pounds, and when Mr. White does so the paw
twists in his hand in response. Almost immediately afterward, the atmosphere in the house changes:

They sat down by the fire again while the two men finished their pipes. Outside, the wind was higher than ever, and the old man
started nervously at the sound of a door banging upstairs. A silence unusual and depressing settled upon all three,
which lasted until the old couple rose to retire for the night.

"I expect you'll find the cash tied up in a big bag in the middle of your bed," said Herbert, as he bade them good-night, "and
something horrible squatting up on top of the wardrobe watching you as you pocket your ill-gotten gains."

He sat alone in the darkness, gazing at the dying fire, and seeing faces in it. The last face was so horrible and so simian
that he gazed at it in amazement. It got so vivid that, with a little uneasy laugh, he felt on the table for a glass containing a little
water to throw over it. His hand grasped the monkey's paw, and with a little shiver he wiped his hand on his coat and went up to
bed.

At the beginning of the story Jacobs depicts the setting that the Whites live in as a safe, cozy place. It is separate from the dangerous
world outside, with its high winds and cold, slashing rain. But the Whites invite trouble into this pleasant setting. Sergeant-Major Morris
is the first visitor. He disrupts the peace and calm in the Whites’ home with his stories. He gives Mr. White the monkey’s paw, the
ultimate symbol of the dangerous outside world. A world, as Morris describes it, of “wild scenes and doughty deeds; of wars and
plagues and strange peoples.”

Model
The moment Mr. White makes a wish on the monkey’s paw, the atmosphere in the home abruptly changes. The
brightly lit fire at the beginning of the story is now dying, and the three family members sit in a silence “unusual
and depressing.” Mr. White is startled by a strange noise. Then Herbert, sitting alone, sees a face in the fire “so
horrible and so simian that he gazed at it in amazement.” This is an example of foreshadowing in the text, as it
hints at what is going to happen to Herbert.

Later in the story, Mr. and Mrs. White invite the Maw and Meggins representative inside, a man who shatters their
happiness with news of Herbert’s death. The final would-be invader of the setting is Herbert himself. Mr. White’s
terrified reaction to his dead son’s desire to come in suggests not just his horror at the idea, but his understanding,
after these two experiences, that any person coming from the outside should be treated as a dangerous threat.

Your Turn

Reread this passage from the first section of “The Monkey’s Paw” to determine how the story elements contribute to the story’s theme and answer the
follow-up questions.

"If the tale about the monkey's paw is not more truthful than those he has been telling us," said Herbert, as the door closed behind their guest, just in time for him to
catch the last train, "we sha'nt make much out of it."

"Did you give him anything for it, father?" inquired Mrs. White, regarding her husband closely.

"A trifle," said he, colouring slightly. "He didn't want it, but I made him take it. And he pressed me again to throw it away."

"Likely," said Herbert, with pretended horror. "Why, we're going to be rich, and famous and happy. Wish to be an emperor, father, to begin with; then you can't be
henpecked."

He darted round the table, pursued by the maligned Mrs. White armed with an antimacassar.

Mr. White took the paw from his pocket and eyed it dubiously. "I don't know what to wish for, and that's a fact," he said, slowly. "It seems to me I've got all I want."

"If you only cleared the house, you'd be quite happy, wouldn't you?" said Herbert, with his hand on his shoulder. "Well, wish for two hundred pounds, then; that'll
just do it."

His father, smiling shamefacedly at his own credulity, held up the talisman, as his son, with a solemn face, somewhat marred by a wink at his mother, sat down at
the piano and struck a few impressive chords.

"I wish for two hundred pounds," said the old man distinctly.

A fine crash from the piano greeted the words, interrupted by a shuddering cry from the old man. His wife and son ran toward him.

"It moved," he cried, with a glance of disgust at the object as it lay on the floor.

Multiple Choice

Part A

Which of the following best describes why the story element of dialogue is important in this passage?

• 1. It propels the action and provokes a decision from one of the characters.

  
  

• 2. The dialogue reveals how each of the characters feel about the monkey’s paw.

  
  

• 3. It discloses the wish one of the characters makes.

  
  

• 4. The author uses dialogue to inform readers that the monkey’s paw moved when Mr. White made a wish on it.

  
  

Multiple Choice

Part B

Which sentence of dialogue best supports your answer?

• 1. “‘It moved,’” he cried, with a glance of disgust at the object as it lay on the floor.”

  
  

• 2. “‘I wish for two hundred pounds.’”

  
  

• 3. “‘Why, we're going to be rich, and famous and happy.’”

  
  

• 4. “‘Well, wish for two hundred pounds, then; that'll just do it.’”