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Hyperbole
Definition of Imagery
Imagery, in any sort of writing, refers to descriptive language that engages the human senses. For instance, the following lines from Robert Frost's poem "After Apple-Picking" contain imagery that engages... read full definition
Imagery, in any sort of writing, refers to descriptive language that engages the human senses. For instance, the following lines from Robert Frost's poem "After... read full definition
Imagery, in any sort of writing, refers to descriptive language that engages the human senses. For instance, the following lines... read full definition
Part I
Explanation and Analysis—Like a Snake:
Jacobs uses imagery and a simile to build suspense in the moments after Mr. White makes his first wish with the monkey’s paw, as seen in the following passage:
“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. “As I wished, it twisted in my hand like a snake.”
Here, Jacobs brings readers more closely into the scene by describing how, immediately after Mr. White makes his wish, there is “a fine crash” from the piano (which Herbert had been playing) and “a shuddering cry” from Mr. White. In addition to this auditory imagery, Jacobs also includes a simile, having Mr. White describe how the monkey’s paw “twisted in [his] hand like a snake.” This simile is notable because it introduces a supernatural element into the story for the first time—until this moment, the Whites (and readers) could dismiss Sergeant-Major Morris’s stories of the paw as pure fantasy. But the monkey's paw moving of its own accord (like the notoriously sinister snake) suggests that the item contains special powers after all.
That said, all three Whites decide to forget what Mr. White thought he saw—Mrs. White goes on to refer to the snake-like movement as mere “fancy,” and father and son agree that it’s likely nothing will come of the wish that Mr. White made. In this way, Jacobs intentionally makes it unclear whether or not the seemingly supernatural events in the story are actually happening or whether it’s a figment of the characters’ imaginations.
Related Themes:
Explanation and Analysis—The First Wish:
After Mr. White uses the monkey’s paw to make his first wish, he, his wife, and his son all sit silently by the fire. In this moment, they start to hear a door banging, an example of both imagery and foreshadowing:
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.
The imagery here engages readers’ different senses—they can hear the wind that “was higher than ever” as well as the loud “banging” of the door, while also having the visceral experience of “start[ing] nervously” alongside Mr. White before feeling how the “depressing” silence “settled upon” the characters. All of these descriptions help readers understand how on edge the White family is after taking the risk of using the monkey’s paw to make a wish.
This moment is an example of foreshadowing because later, after Mr. White’s second wish (for his son to return from the dead), he and Mrs. White hear loud knocking on the front door, similar to the banging they hear in this scene. In this way, the monkey’s paw seems to warn the family of the trouble to come now that they’ve started to try to change and control their fates.
Related Themes:
Part III
Explanation and Analysis—The Ending:
In the final moments in the story, Mr. White makes a mysterious third wish with the monkey’s paw, likely asking that his son (whose reanimated corpse he believes to be knocking on the front door) return to his grave. The narrator uses imagery to capture the quiet and eerie energy in this moment, as seen in the following passage:
The knocking ceased suddenly, although the echoes of it were still in the house. He heard the chair drawn back, and the door opened. A cold wind rushed up the staircase, and a long loud wail of disappointment and misery from his wife gave him courage to run down to her side, and then to the gate beyond. The street lamp flickering opposite shone on a quiet and deserted road.
The imagery here allows readers to hear the “echoes” of the knocking as well as Mrs. White’s “long loud wail of disappointment and misery” as she realizes her son is not there (as she had been hoping). They can also feel the “cold wind” that “rushes” inside and visualize the “flickering” streetlamp shining “on a quiet and deserted road.”
All of this imagery combines to communicate the eerie and unsettling feeling in the wake of the violent door knocking. It helps readers understand that, while Mr. and Mrs. White have avoided the potential terror of facing their deceased son’s decaying body, this is not the end of the story. In making a third wish, Mr. White once again attempted to control his fate, and it’s likely that he will have to face consequences.
Related Themes:
