The suspense of W. W. Jacobs's story, "The Monkey's Paw"
is the feature that propels the plot, along with the
foreshadowing.
RISING
ACTION
In Part I, [the inciting
incident]after the old soldier leaves, Herbert's daring attitude prompts Mr.
White to take the paw from his pocket and look doubtfully at it. Mr. White wishes for
two hundred pounds, and as Herbert humorously strikes a few ominous chords on the piano,
the paw moves in the hands of Mr. White. As Mr. and Mrs. White retire to their bedroom,
Herbert gazes into the fire and sees hideous faces in it. With a shiver, he, too, goes
to bed.
In Part II,
[development]Herbert leaves for work; later in the day a man pauses
three times at the gate of the White home, but the fourth time he passes through. He
has the sad news that Herbert was caught in the machinery at his job and killed. Maw
and Meggins, the firm he represents, "admits no liablitity at all, but in consideration
of your son's services" the man says, "wish to present you with a certain sum as
compensation." The sum is two hundred pounds.
In Part III
[conflict increases with more development]the couple bury their
son, yet they remain in a "state of expectation as though of something else to happen."
Mrs. Smith thinks of the paw; she tells her husband that they have two other wishes.
She begs Mr. White to wish to have their boy back. When Mr. White warns her that
Herbert was unrecognizable after the accident and has been dead ten days, but she is
undeterred. So they wish for Herbert to return. Mr. White raises his hand with the
talisman, saying, "I wish my son alive again."
CLIMAX
[point of highest interest or
suspense]
After a while a stair creaks, so Mr.
White goes down the dark stairs to investigate. Then, the matches he has been holding
fall from his hands, and he flees back to the bedroom and closes the door. Despite his
fear and his warnings, his wife insists upon going down the stairs. Loud knocks resound
and Mr. White hears his wife: "The bolt," she cries..."I can't reach it." Hurrying to
assist her against the "fusillage of knocks," they drag a chair against the door as it
begins to give way. Finding the monkey's paw, Mr. White makes his third
wish.
FALLING ACTION [events that follow the
climax]
The knocking stops suddenly. A long
loud cry of anguish from his wife brings Mr. White to her
side.
RESOLUTION [denouement,
end]
Then, he runs through the gate and looks
down the lighted solitary road.
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