The Monkey's Paw (Character Analysis -II)

 

Herbert White

Herbert is the young adult son of Mr. White and Mrs. White. He is a happy, loving son to his parents, indicative of the domestic bliss shown at the beginning of the story. Though he teases his father for believing in the magic of the monkey's paw, Herbert himself has a moment of fear when, after his parents have gone to bed, he sees the image of a horrific monkey’s face in the fireplace and picks up the monkey’s paw. Herbert represents how even the skeptic can be briefly made to believe in the ability to magically alter fate. Herbert works in a factory, where he dies midway through the story in a machinery accident. His death exhibits a common occurrence in the period of industrialization in Britain, as many young people left their family homes to work in factories and many died due to dangerous working conditions created by careless and exploitative factory owners. However, Herbert’s death is also possibly a consequence of his father’s wish upon the monkey’s paw. Both Mr. and Mrs. White believe that Herbert returns at the end of the story, as they use the second wish on the paw to bring him back to life. While Mrs. White believes her beloved son has come back to her, Mr. White fears the consequences of the monkey’s paw, which will only bring back a mangled and decaying version of their son. Notably, the narrative does not explicitly state that Herbert is or isn’t returned before Mr. White wishes him away again, leaving the reality of Herbert’s return, and therefore the magic of the paw, dubious. The reader can interpret the fate of Herbert’s character through two perspectives, one that views Herbert’s death as a part of one’s punishment for trying to alter fate, or as a casualty of the real issue of the industrialization that was going to happen regardless of Mr. White’s actions.

Morris

Morris is an old friend of Mr.White who has been a soldier abroad in India for 21 years. The fantastical stories of his travels show the allure of adventure in exotic places, adventures that Mr. White himself claims he would like to experience. Morris also brings the sinister monkey's paw from India to Mr. White, which also shows how people at the time viewed objects from faraway places (particularly Britain’s colonies) with both suspicion and temptation. Morris himself has wished upon the paw and seems to regret it, showing the consequences of one who tempts fate. Still, when Mr. White asks him if he would take three more wishes if he could, he says, “I don’t know…I don’t know,” suggesting that even when one suffers from attempting to change their fate, the power can still be attractive enough for one to possibly try again. However, the reality of Morris’s stories is dubious. Both Herbert and Mrs. White remark that soldiers commonly tell fictional or exaggerated accounts of their adventures abroad, and the story of the paw’s origins and its supposed magic may be another tall tale. In fact, the narrative never definitively states whether or not the paw actually grants Mr. White’s wishes, so Morris’s claims that the paw can alter fate may indeed be false.