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Running head: SYMBOLISM AS A LITERARY DEVICE

Symbolism as a Literary Device
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SYMBOLISM AS A LITERARY DEVICE

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“The Monkey Paw”
The Monkey Paw is a story about a mystical paw that can grant people “three wishes”
through supernatural powers. The paw is brought into the lives of the White family by Sergeant
Major Morris who had been serving in India. Sergeant Morris was the second owner of the paw
and was looking to get rid of it. In the story, it is expressed that the first owner’s last wish was
for death. Mr. White takes the paw from the sergeant at a small cost. His first wish was for 200
pounds (Jacobs, 2000). Nothing happened immediately, and so the family assumes that the paw
is a hoax. After a couple of days, the family receives the money in full under very sad
circumstances. The money is a payout for an accident that Mr. White’s son, Herbert, has had at
work and died. The parents are devastated and for the second wish, ten days after his death, the
wife, Mrs. White wishes for their son to come back from the dead. Again nothing happens
immediately, then one night while in the house the parents hear something or someone arrive and
knock at the door that is rather unusual. As the wife struggles to open the door, Mr. White
decides to make the last wish, to have whatever...