Analyzing Suspense And Tension In The Monkey S Paw English Literature Essay

As ‘The Monkey’s Paw’ was published in September, 1902, by the author, WW Jacobs. Jacobs creates a sense of horror, suspense and tension very effectively in ‘The Monkey’s Paw’ by using variety of literary techniques. It firmly abides by the Gothic Horror genre which can be defined as a theme which combines elements of both Horror and Romance. A ghost story is a story determined to scare the reader it usually builds up gradually with tension and suspense, in ‘The Monkey’s Paw’ Jacobs has used a lot of intense, exaggerated words to build tension and suspense in many elements of the story. Jacobs creates the story scary in ways that are very different to modern Horror films and books. It shows the reader that the story was written in the early twentieth century as it contains many details that would have been common in Victorian literature. There are numerous features which are obvious from ‘The Monkeys Paw’ which strikes to show the reader that the story was written over a century ago, as a result of this the old fashioned language which Jacobs uses. The old fashioned language used throughout the whole story contains words such as ‘visage’ and ‘rubicund’, these are not words that are commonly being used today. The story contains many details that would have been common in Victorian literature this tells that the story was written in the early twentieth century. Moreover the fact that £200 was considered to be a lot of money this clearly reflects that the story was from a long time ago as £200 is not seen as a large amount of money in the modern world.

In ‘The Monkey’s Paw’ W.W.Jacobs uses variety of different ways to portray different feelings and emotions, by describing the characters, the setting and the actions of the story, which add to the accumulation of suspense. Jacobs begins the story by setting the scene and creates an atmosphere of suspense by describing the area in which the White’s live. In the story “The Monkey’s Paw” W.W. Jacobs has used words like ‘Darkness’ and ‘Trembling’ numerous times, all these descriptive words used to manifest fear and terror, which builds expectation. “Night…Cold wet…Paths a bog and roads a torrent…Only two houses in the area”. The setting of the story “The Monkey’s Paw” is a typical for a horror story, with the setting and the atmosphere being so stereotypical it establishes the expectation that something could go wrong which helps to build suspense. In the story “The Monkey’s Paw” the atmosphere and the setting builds on the expectation that something could go wrong, this leaves the reader anxious to know what exactly will go wrong.

In ‘The Monkey’s Paw’ the author W.W.Jacobs begins the story by setting the scene and the atmosphere by describing the area in which the White’s live. Jacobs describes the night as cold and wet, while inside the house the blinds are drawn and the fire is burning brightly. This is a good contrast, as the house seems to have a warm and safe atmosphere inside, even though the cottage is situated in a remote area of the country, with extremely unpleasant and harsh weather. Before the Sergeant-Major arrives, the atmosphere of the house seems quite tense and dull. Jacobs shows how tense Mr. White is when he writes “Bawled Mr. White, with sudden and unlooked-for violence”. You can easily see that Mr. White doesn’t seem to be concentrating on his game of chess.

In the Story ‘The Monkey’s paw’ the author W.W.Jacobs

The story tells of a mystical object, monkey’s paw which grants 3 wishes to 3 different people but holds the premise, ‘be careful what you wish for’. When Mr White subconsciously wishes for £200, he is hit with the death of his son but is also awarded the £200, which he had wished for. Towards the end of the story, Mrs White attempts to utilise the talisman to bring back her son to life but Mr White’s last wish counteracts this.

A ghost story is a story with intent to scare; it usually builds up

tension and suspense by using a lot of intense, exaggerated words.

Usually in a ghost story there is a typical dark and gloomy setting

and an inhuman object almost always there is a non human force or a

supernatural being in the story to give it a scare factor.

Supernatural means a power above the forces of nature which implies

that it is not human. In the time that the two stories were written,

the belief in the supernatural was a lot different to those of today.

They believed in such things as ghosts and witchcraft where as

nowadays there are only some believers. This could be because they had

less technology than today’s world so we have more evidence to whether

they are or aren’t real

Of all the horror short stories I have read “The Monkey’s Paw” by W.W Jacobs is by far the best for creating a suspenseful atmosphere/mood. I intend to show how W.W Jacobs creates this suspenseful atmosphere/mood through the analysis of setting, narrative, dialogue and character in order to deepen my understanding.

“The Monkey’s Paw” tells the story of a small but close family, the Whites who are visited by Sergeant-Major-Morris a friend of Mr Whites who brings with him the monkey’s paw.

In the story “The Monkey’s Paw” W.W. Jacobs has used words like ‘Darkness’ and ‘Trembling’ numerous times, all these descriptive words used to manifest fear and terror, which builds expectation. “Night…Cold wet…Paths a bog and roads a torrent…Only two houses in the area”. The setting of the story “The Monkey’s Paw” is a typical for a horror story, with the setting and the atmosphere being so stereotypical it establishes the expectation that something could go wrong which helps to build suspense. In the story “The Monkey’s Paw” the atmosphere and the setting builds on the expectation that something could go wrong, this leaves the reader anxious to know what exactly will go wrong.