The monkey paw
The monkey paw ( English original title: The Monkey's Paw ) is a short story by the English author William Wymark Jacobs (1863-1943). It was in 1902 in his collection of short stories The Lady of the Barge first published and is considered one of the most famous horror - short stories of English literature . It is based on traditional stories in which three wishes are granted to a person, in this case the owner of a talisman in the shape of a mummified monkey paw. However, the fulfillment of wishes comes at a terrible price.
content
The story begins with a visit to the family of an old friend, Mr. White, at the Laburnum mansion in England by a British colonial officer, Sergeant Major Morris, who was severely affected by illness and alcohol. Coincidentally, the conversation turns to a dried monkey paw that Morris brought back from India. He claims it was made by a famous fakir who wanted to prove that breaking predetermined karma by fulfilling personal desires can only bring bad luck. Morris himself came into possession of the paw after the previous owner's death, and after his three wishes had been granted, he could now pass the paw on. Notwithstanding the warnings about the cursed nature of the talisman, Mr. White accepts the paw and, encouraged by his wife, makes a wish. He carelessly wishes to get hold of £ 200 . The wish will soon be fulfilled in a terrible way. His only living son, Herbert, gets caught in a running machine in an accident at work and is killed. From his life insurance, Mr. White receives £ 200.
After the funeral, the old couple lapse into a listless and depressive way of life. One night, however, Mrs. White is struck by a sudden idea. She pleads with her husband to make a second wish: the return of her son to life. Mr. White hesitates at first, but again gives in to his wife's insistence and expresses his wish. However, nothing happens and the dejected couple finally goes back to bed disappointed. Only later do they hear someone knocking loudly on the front door. Mrs. White is convinced that this can only be her son (who would have taken a while to cover the distance from the cemetery to the house) and runs to the front door, beside himself with joy. On the other hand, Mr. White (who, unlike his wife, saw the horribly battered corpse before the funeral) is seized with horror. At the last moment he grabs the monkey paw and expresses his third wish. When his wife throws the door open, no one can be seen on the empty street.
Interpretation and effect
The eerie and horrifying effect of Jacob's short story is based on the masterful handling of hints and clues, which, through their vagueness and indeterminacy, stimulate the reader's imagination. The wishes of the previous owners of the monkey paw are not mentioned, but only hinted at their possible effects, namely in the form of a death (suicide?) And Morris' peculiar indifference (weariness with life?). Herbert's death is also not described. Only through the (actually very cautious) report by a company representative does the reader get the impression of a horrific accident and a mutilated and disfigured corpse. Likewise, the wording of the last wish is not revealed. Nevertheless, one is pushed to the assumption that Mr White banishes his own, beloved son back into the realm of the dead and thus knowingly destroys the last hope of his wife. Ultimately, it remains unclear who (or what) actually knocked on the door. All events can thus also be explained as a mere chain of unfortunate and tragic coincidences. The interpretation of the events by the protagonists is perhaps only a disastrous self-deception (caused by the boasting of a drinker), just like the interpretation of the story by the reader.
The theme of the story is structurally similar to the stories about Doctor Faust , in which there is also no possibility of formulating a wish in such a skilful way that the devil cannot spoil the one who wishes, and perhaps to the stories about the sorcerer's apprentice who is unable to keep the forces freed by him under control. The numerous variants of the "three wishes jokes " form a more harmless parallel .
filming
The monkey paw was filmed as part of the series “Gespenstergeschichten” broadcast by ARD in 1985.
reception
- As early as 1907 , a one-act play based on this story was performed, which is still played and read in school today.
- In an episode of the TV series about the pop group The Monkees (between 1965 and 1968), a nightclub magician sells the band a cursed monkey paw to get revenge for the band members unknowingly robbing him of his job.
- The episode Wish You Were Here in the film Tales from the Crypt of 1972 represents a treatment of the topic.
- Likewise, the novel Friedhof der Kuscheltiere from 1983 by the well-known horror author Stephen King is based on the same premise: After losing a loved one, you want it back. King had previously mentioned the story in his novel Dead Zone and in the novella Apt Pupil , which became the model for the film The Model Student .
- "The Monkey's Paw" was also the subject of the same name humorous song on the album Strange Angels of pop singer Laurie Anderson of 1989 .
- The German humorist Heinz Erhardt processed the story into a ballad entitled Fifty Pounds ; the subtitle is an old English morality . Here the monkey paw is a ring, and the plot is limited to the first wish with the money and the death of the son.
- One of the episodes from the second Halloween special in the cartoon series The Simpsons ( Treehouse of Horror II ) has the same name and is obviously a parody of that story.
- In the TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer , Buffy's sister Dawn tries to bring her mother back to life after her death with the help of magical practices. The result is described very similarly to the end of the "monkey paw".
- In the episode Je Souhaite of the TV series The X-Files , a female genie appears who promises every owner of a magic carpet the fulfillment of three wishes. The results are, at best, an ironic twist of desire; at worst, they are malicious. For example, the protagonist Fox Mulder, after his wish for "peace on earth", finds himself in a lifeless world that no longer has any inhabitant except himself.
- In the computer game The Sims 2 , the player who selects Find Couch while sitting on a sofa can find a "mysterious zombie monkey paw".
- In the chapter Suruga Monkey of the novel Bakemonogatari, the heroine of the title wishes to be able to run faster on one paw in order to win a race. When the next day her only four competitors are missing because they were beaten up, she assumes that it was a "monkey paw" that distorted the wish against her intention. In fact, however, the paw is a devil who does not implement its wishes as they are expressed, but faithfully as they are intended.
- The eighth episode of the series × × × HOLiC also revolves around a monkey's paw.
- The monkey paw can also be found in the computer game Pirate101 by the developer Kingsisle Entertainment. In one of the several worlds to be visited, the monkey paw is a relic that the player must look for. There are exams that are very reminiscent of the movie Indiana Jones and the last crusade . This monkey paw was found by the Valvida brothers, but they were shipwrecked and could not return home. To ensure their survival, the brothers saw no other way than to use the paw, which however had terrible consequences. For example, one of the brothers wishes to have something to eat, and plants sprout in the area. However, these exist to eat, not to be eaten, resulting in the death of some of the brothers' soldiers. The player's task is now to conquer three keys that are in the hands of two of the Valvida brothers, who were turned into monsters by their wishes, in order to finally face the last of the brothers in a final trial.
expenditure
- The Monkey's Paw . Translated from the English by Dr. Heiko Postma . Hanover: Jmb , 2014. ISBN 978-3-944342-50-4 .
swell
This article is based on the article en: The Monkey's Paw .
Web links
- German text (PDF; 106 kB)