While the narrators of many horror stories have creepy or callous tones, the narrator of “The Monkey’s Paw” primarily moves between humorous and caring tones. Part I starts the story off with a funny tone, as seen in the following passage:
Father and son were at chess, the former, who possessed ideas about the game involving radical changes, putting his king into such sharp and unnecessary perils that it even provoked comment from the white-haired old lady knitting placidly by the fire.
Rather than explaining in simple language that Mr. White was not a very good chess player, the narrator frames his lack of skill in humorously oblique ways, such as Mr. White “possess[ing] ideas about the game involving radical changes” and “putting his king into such sharp and unnecessary perils” that Mrs. White can’t help but comment on his poor decision-making, even though she isn’t involved in the game.
The narrator’s tone becomes less silly and more sympathetic in Part III of the story after Herbert dies and Mr. and Mrs. White become overcome with grief. Take the following passage, for example, which describes the couple’s experience burying their son:
In the huge new cemetery, some two miles distant, the old people buried their dead, and came back to a house steeped in shadow and silence.
The narrator’s description of Mr. and Mrs. White’s house being “steeped in shadow and silence” after burying Herbert clearly has a caring tone—the narrator is not glibly moving past the seriousness of this moment but honors the Whites’ loss before moving on with the story. It is only because the tone switches into this more somber register that readers can understand why Mr. and Mrs. White decide to make another wish using the cursed monkey’s paw. Because their loss is so significant, they decide once again to try to meddle with fate.
While the narrators of many horror stories have creepy or callous tones, the narrator of “The Monkey’s Paw” primarily moves between humorous and caring tones. Part I starts the story off with a funny tone, as seen in the following passage:
Father and son were at chess, the former, who possessed ideas about the game involving radical changes, putting his king into such sharp and unnecessary perils that it even provoked comment from the white-haired old lady knitting placidly by the fire.
Rather than explaining in simple language that Mr. White was not a very good chess player, the narrator frames his lack of skill in humorously oblique ways, such as Mr. White “possess[ing] ideas about the game involving radical changes” and “putting his king into such sharp and unnecessary perils” that Mrs. White can’t help but comment on his poor decision-making, even though she isn’t involved in the game.
The narrator’s tone becomes less silly and more sympathetic in Part III of the story after Herbert dies and Mr. and Mrs. White become overcome with grief. Take the following passage, for example, which describes the couple’s experience burying their son:
In the huge new cemetery, some two miles distant, the old people buried their dead, and came back to a house steeped in shadow and silence.
The narrator’s description of Mr. and Mrs. White’s house being “steeped in shadow and silence” after burying Herbert clearly has a caring tone—the narrator is not glibly moving past the seriousness of this moment but honors the Whites’ loss before moving on with the story. It is only because the tone switches into this more somber register that readers can understand why Mr. and Mrs. White decide to make another wish using the cursed monkey’s paw. Because their loss is so significant, they decide once again to try to meddle with fate.
