Analyses of treble structure
...warning not to try and change fate as it is in fact made with the intention of testing whether or not it would change their circumstances. Confirming this theory is the satisfaction he actually has for the status quo of his life before the arrival of the monkeys paw, and the way in which he has to be convinced by his family to make the wish. Therefore, a contrast between the happy state of the man’s life and the sadness that results from the granting of the wish effectively establishes the problems with changing fate. Although, it is mostly the actual outcome of this first wish that prompts readers to acknowledge the disastrarous consequences of changing fate. In this scenario, Mr White’s wish for two hundred pounds is granted by compensation he receives from his son’s early and very gruesome death. However, the time lapse between this event and the utterance of the wish, and also the conditions of the son’s death and Mr White’s payment do not entirely dismiss the notion of it all being coincidence and unrelated to the monkeys paw. Therefore, although the first iterance effectively outlines the dilemma of the Monkey’s Paw, the second iteration is needed to focus this dilemma. In The Monkey’s Paw, the second iteration focuses the dilemma outlined in the first. Just as in the first instance, the intention’s of the second wish made by Mr White directly conflicts with fate. He wishes his son to return back to life. This action is even commented on by Mr White himself as being ‘foolish’ and ‘wicked’. Thus, it is the absurdity of the second wish and Mr White’s acknowledgement of its power for evil that clearly defines the dilemma in relation to the conditions of changing fate. Also, dependant on these conditions, the expected outcome of such a wish is made to be excessively horrific. In the narrative, Mr White is speulates that his son may come back to life as a mutilated corpse. He professes this fear to his wife as he claims, “He has been dead ten days, and besides he—I would not tell you else, but—I could only recognise him by his clothing. If he was too terrible for you to see him then, how now?” However this fear is never confirmed by the narrative as although heavy banging is heard from the door and suspected to be Mr White’s son returned from the grave, the wish is averted, and the reader is left only to imagine what could have been the outcome of this wish. If a wish for 200 pounds would cause his son’s death then truly the wish for that life back must result in somthin more horrendous. In this way, a clear link is established between the degree of which the wish would alter fate and the degree of hardships inflicted upon the wish maker as a result of the wish. Thus, the second iteration clearly focuses the conditions of the initial dilemma presented in the first, and leaves the situation open for the third iteration to resolve. The third iteration effectively resolves the drama presented in the narrative. In this section, the wish of the second iteration has not yet fully come to pa...