Austin Yancey

Austin YanceyMr. CarpenterSophomore Honors English9 December 2014WA# 2In life, people can experience irony, foreshadowing, metaphor; some experience them because of curiosity. Some, maybe because they are greedy. In literature, fictional people experience these same literary devices too. In the short story The Monkeys Paw by W.W. Jacobs, the White family experiences literary devices, too: situation irony, foreshadowing, and metaphor. Throughout the short story, the Whites experience situation irony, foreshadowing, and metaphor.First, situation irony is revealed when the Whites are speaking to Sergeant-Major Morris about the monkeys paw. When Sergeant-Major Morris talks about how the paw was made, he says, It had a spell put on it by an old fakir (138), his follow up was ironic. He says, a very holy man (138). This shows that evil was made by a holy man. This clearly shows situation irony.Next, foreshadowing appears when Sergeant-major Morris is explaining what happens to the people who use the cursed paw. When Morris says, He wanted to show that fate ruled peoples lives (138), his response foreshadows evil. He says those who interfered with it did so to their sorrow (138). This foreshadows sorrow to come to the Whites. This clearly is foreshadowing.Finally, metaphor is revealed when Mr. White is downstairs looking for the paw. When Mrs. White tells Mr. White to go downstairs to wish their son back, his follow up is metaphorical. As he goes downstairs to get the paw, he found he had lost direction of the door (141). This metaphor shows that the Whites are lost in life. This is clearly a metaphor.There is no doubt that in the short story The Monkeys Paw there is situation irony, foreshadowing, and metaphor. Whether it appears when talking about the monkeys paw, speaking of how the paw is made or Mr. White looking for the paw these literary tools appear. Each of these events is clearly a literary device and appears in this short story. One can only wonder what would happen if he Whites curiosity did not get the best of them in such an ironic way.