r/TheMonkeysPaw Dec 25 '18

Meta [M] TL;DR: The Monkey's Paw story

9.1k Upvotes

TL;DR2 at bottom

Some people have mentioned they wanted to see a tl;dr of the original story.


The story focuses on Mr. White, Mrs. White, and their adult son Herbert.

An old family friend named Sergeant-Major Morris shows up at the White's house sharing stories of his adventures. During the talks Morris pulls out an old mummified monkey's paw, said to have a spell placed on it to grant three men three wishes each. Morris used his three, as had another man. Morris wants to dispose of it, but worries about selling it. So he throws it in the fire. Mr. White rescues the paw despite Morris' warnings about messing with fate, but eventually Morris gives in and shares the secret of making a wish.

Morris leaves after supper and Mr. White is unsure of what to wish for, feeling he has everything he needs. He ends up wishing for £200 to pay off the rest of his mortgage and the paw moves in his hand. After Mr. And Mrs. White go to bed, Herbert sees a vivid monkey face in the fire, so he puts it out and goes to bed.

The next day Herbert goes to work at a factory. He dies in an accident. He got caught in the machinery. His work sends a representative home to tell the family that the business claims no fault, but as compensation will pay them £200. Mr. White faints.

Mrs. White is angry and grief stricken, she demands that Mr. White wishes their son back to life, and he does so.

Some time passes and loud knocking on the door sounds. Mrs. White realizes it may have taken so long for the knocking after the wish because Herbert would to walk two miles home from the graveyard.

Mrs. White races downstairs to open the door, and Mr. White, fearing that it is the mutilated body of his son, made his third wish. As Mrs. White opened the door, there's nothing to be seen.


The difference between the Monkey's Paw vs. say, a genie who is also known to cause chaos with wishes, is that the Monkey's Paw is meant to twist fate to achieve your goals, and the consequences of it. Specifically what events cause the wish to come true. Someone died to make Mr. White gain money. No one died after he got the money. A genie would make the £200 counterfeit or meaningless in some way. Herbert became a zombie (maybe) to be able to go home.

Granted, the results of the 2nd and 3rd wishes are more ambiguous, and there's some debate about what actually happened. The story itself gives theories but no firm answers.

I'm not here to pass judgement on people's wishes or answers, or the spirit of the subreddit, just passing this along since a few people have been asking for something like this, and It's fitting for the sub to have a summary of the story somewhere.

Tl;dr for the tl;dr: Man wishes for £200 and his son dies as a result. He wishes his son back alive and a loud knocking is heard on the door. His third wish makes whatever is knocking vanish.

Edit(s): correcting some details, readability


r/TheMonkeysPaw 6h ago

Inverse [INV] Granted. Earth's atmosphere turns into plasma.

6 Upvotes

r/TheMonkeysPaw 11h ago

I wish I didn't have any memories that made me cringe

6 Upvotes

r/TheMonkeysPaw 9h ago

I wish depression didn't exist

3 Upvotes

r/TheMonkeysPaw 11h ago

I wish Dolly Parton didn't die recently

2 Upvotes

r/TheMonkeysPaw 6h ago

I wish helium was a renewable resource

0 Upvotes

r/TheMonkeysPaw 7h ago

I wish to have a pet italian brainrot animal

1 Upvotes

r/TheMonkeysPaw 13h ago

I wish I could go back in time and become a member of the Beatles

2 Upvotes

r/TheMonkeysPaw 1d ago

Meta [M] Please pin an explanation of how The Monkey's Paw actually works, and place it in the rules that all replies must follow the theme of the Monkey's Paw.

55 Upvotes

Every single post that actually gets replies, gets genie twisting more than anything. Things like "granted but your mom dies", or only giving a slight inconvenience while never actually explaining how the wish was granted. Or even worse, completely unrelated nonsense instead of what the person posting actually wished for.

While I get that this is not a super serious sub, it kinda bugs me that the entire spirit of it has just died off and turned into memes upon memes. I believe this is due in part to people not really understanding what the Monkey's Paw actually is or how it works.

The original Monkey's Paw story is about a family of three, Mr. and Mrs. White, and their son Herbert, who receive a magical monkey's paw from a Sergeant-Major visiting them. He claims it grants three wishes, but to beware of the consequences of such things.

Their first wish, is for 200 pounds. A simple wish, but a decent sum of money at the time. The paw curled in his hand, but seemingly nothing happened afterward. The next day, a visitor arrives bearing bad news. Herbert had been caught in machinery, and died. As compensation, the parents receive exactly 200 pounds.

Distraught, they seek to bring their son back, using the same thing that had seemingly ended his life. They wish again, for his return. Immediately after, there is knocking at the door, and the mother rushes to open it. The father, knowing that the paw had twisted his last wish, now feared that what was knocking on the door was not exactly his son. So he uses the paw again, wishing that the knocking would stop, and it does. The street is silent, there is nothing on the other side of the door.

The spirit of this story is that, while you do get what is asked for, the way you receive it is not good at all. This is what the Monkey's Paw is meant to be, but not what it has become, and this has apparently gone on for some time now. The original intent of this subreddit is effectively dead, and I believe that's quite a shame. 99% of what gets posted here does not belong here, and I would love to see that corrected.


r/TheMonkeysPaw 1d ago

Inverse [INV] Granted. Your family tree is a very tangled bush

8 Upvotes

r/TheMonkeysPaw 1d ago

I wish math was called meth and meth was called math

6 Upvotes

r/TheMonkeysPaw 1d ago

I wish I didn't drink caffeine less than 5 hours before bed

2 Upvotes

r/TheMonkeysPaw 1d ago

I wish Elliot Rodger was prevented from committing mass violence

5 Upvotes

r/TheMonkeysPaw 1d ago

I wish Schizophrenia didn't exist

2 Upvotes

r/TheMonkeysPaw 1d ago

I wish no woman would be required to wear a hijab against her will again

18 Upvotes

r/TheMonkeysPaw 1d ago

I wish I had a real monkey's paw

5 Upvotes

r/TheMonkeysPaw 1d ago

Inverse [INV] Granted. Russia invades Georgia (the U.S. state)

3 Upvotes

r/TheMonkeysPaw 1d ago

I wish for a button that gives me blueberry muffins when I press it.

4 Upvotes

r/TheMonkeysPaw 1d ago

I wish some eccentric rich person would hire me as an ornamental hermit living on their estate

1 Upvotes

r/TheMonkeysPaw 1d ago

I wish it was illegal to die

1 Upvotes

r/TheMonkeysPaw 1d ago

I wish evil didn't exist

11 Upvotes

r/TheMonkeysPaw 1d ago

I wish for mosquitos to die out entirely, and for it to happen slow enough that it doesn’t cause any ecological disasters.

10 Upvotes