Eden G.
10/02/2012
Period 04
Comparing and Contrasting “The
Monkey’s Paw” and “The Third Wish”:
In “The Monkey’s Paw,” there are many very suspenseful moments. However, in
“The Third Wish,” it has a much more peaceful and cheery mood. The author of “The
Third Wish” is Joan Aiken. The main idea of “The Third Wish” is that you don’t need
everything to be happy and lead an enjoyable life. The author of “The Monkey’s Paw” is
William Wymark Jacobs. The main idea for “The Monkey’s Paw” is to never be too
curious because after all ‘curiosity killed the cat’, but in this case it would be ‘curiosity
killed the son’.
In “The Third Wish” the main character is very lonely man who wanted a
companion to grow old with it is a man in his late forties to mid fifties, His name is Mr.
Peters, the story starts out with Mr. Peters driving home one day and coming across a
swan entangled in the thorns on the bank of the canal. The mood of “The Third Wish”
consists of a happy romantic feeling. For example, when Mr. Peters is living his life with
Leita, but also there is a part of the story that has a much more toned down feel to it. This
is caused by Leita being un-happy as a human and wanting to be a swan again, she then
transforms back into a swan.
But in “The Monkey’s Paw” the main character, Mr. White, who had a wife and a
son, had only wanted to see if the monkey’s paw was actually a real talisman. The mood
of “The Monkey’s Paw” is a much more dark, creepy and eerie feel to it. A few of many
examples would be first of all, the title of course! Then with that said, another example
would be when Mr. Whites’ son comes back as a thing or something like The Walking
Dead. All throughout this story there is a maintained feeling of suspense and excitement.
Even if the reader is aware of the fact that something bad is about to happen it is very
exciting. Almost like being on a rollercoaster, in the moment when there a lot of suspense
while you wait for the big drop, or the big event, about to happen.
The character analysis of Mr. Peters is as follows; he was a lonely man living on
a farm by himself. He tended to all of his needs himself and also tended to all the animals
he owned. When he and Leita were married, he became a different man. He was happier
and less depressed in fact, he was in love with Leita so much all signs of any sadness left
for a while. Mr. Peters had help with everything because of Leita, she attended to the big
jobs, for example tending to all the animals, to small ones like darning Mr. Peters’ socks.
But when Leita became un-happy, he showed compassion and allowed her to turn back
into a swan so that she could live on with her sister that she had left behind. Even after
this heart wrenching event, he still would go out everyday to just sit with Leita and her
sister, almost in a silent communication with them. Mr. Peters died happy and content
with a smile on his face. However, the character analysis of Mr. White is that he is a man
most likely in his mid-thirties to early forties. He definitely has a short temper because
when he was playing chess with his son and as he realized he lost he became angrier and
angrier with himself and his son until finally his wife calmed him down by saying that he
could win next time. Mr. White is also very nosy and curious about things he should not
involve himself in but does anyway. This factor has only one example and it is the deadly
moment when Mr. White absolutely had to look and touch and have the monkey’s paw
when the Sergeant Major pulled it out. This was a deadly move on Mr. Whites’ part
because if he had not been so pest-like about the paw, his son would have never died.
The theme for “The Third Wish” is ‘true love is un-conditional and no matter
what, if you love that person, you will always be happy,’ the reason this theme was
relevant is because when Mr. Peters lets Leita go and turns her back into a swan, she
doesn’t leave forever. She goes to find her sister and then returns to him but they can
never be together again, but he still would get up every morning and go out to see them
both because he loved her very much. And that’s the reason he died happy and content
with a smile on his face, because he knew that she loved him to. The theme for “The
Monkey’s Paw” is ‘don’t wish for more if you already have what you need in your life,’
This can be said because of the fact that Mr. White didn’t need the monkey’s paw, he
already had a home a wife and a son. He was better off in life than most people today. All
he did was make his life terrible when he used the monkey’s paw.