Compare and Contrast Essay on The Third Wish and The Monkey's Paw
Uploaded by ilovehorses98 on Jan 23, 2012
In this essay, I will be describing the similarities of the moods, main characters, and resolutions between two short stories, The Monkey’s Paw, and The Third Wish. The Monkey’s Paw, by W.W. Jacobs, is about a family who obtains a magical monkey’s paw that has been cursed. They use the wishes and each wish comes out with a consequence. In the Third Wish, by Joan Aiken, a man frees a swan in distress and the swan grants him three wishes. Each wish turns out with a consequence starting with his wish for a lovely wife. They both have struggles in each short story and I will be comparing them to each other.
The first point that I will be comparing is the mood in each story. In the Monkey’s Paw, the mood is very peculiar. It feels like a very heavy, depressing weight is upon the family. That weight feels like it is lifted at the end of the story when he wishing for his dead son to be back in the grave after wishing him alive again. It also starts to feel peaceful. It also has a magical feeling because of the monkey’s paw and the wishes. These moods also appear in the Third Wish. In the Third Wish, the mood is magical in the beginning because of the magical leaves and the lovely wife that came for him. But as the wife starts to become unhappy and sickly, the mood changes to a peculiar and depressing mood in the story. Towards the end, he lives happily with his wife as a swan and his wife’s sister. It feels peaceful at the very end when he dies with a smile on his face.
The next point is comparing the main characters. In the Monkey’s Paw, the main character is Mr. White. He is an old man with a wife and son. He is curious about the monkey’s paw he obtains and wonders if it actually works. He wants something to make his life better even though he feels it is perfect. He wishes for money for his first wish. When he gets the news that his son is dead and he gets the same amount he wished for from the insurance, he realizes that each wish comes with a consequence. In the Third Wish, an old man named Mr. Peter’s wanted a wife and he gets three wishes for rescuing...