The monkey paw

The monkey paw:

"The Monkey's Paw" is a supernatural short story by author W. W. Jacobs first published in England in 1902.

The story, set in Britain, begins with Mr. White and his son, Herbert, playing a game of chess where Herbert puts his dad in checkmate. It shows that this is "an ordinary night." It doesn't remain "ordinary" for long, because a man by the name of Sergeant-Major Morris comes to the house with a monkey's paw, willing to give it to them. This paw provides the bearer with three wishes on anything they wish. Sergeant-Major inherited this paw from the man before him, who used his three wishes, the only one that was known was that his third wish was for death. This is a clear sign of trouble, provided that the first two wishes were more than likely intended for one thing but resulted in something so drastic and painful that his life became so unbearable and death was the only freedom. Sergeant-Major even mentions that it was created to assert the power of fate. The paw was a test in which the bearer would try to interfere with fate, but instead end up in a situation far worse than before. The overall moral is to not play with fate.
The Monkey's Paw" is perhaps the key example of the consequences of what you wish for when provided the opportunity to do so. The fact that these wishes end up putting you in a situation far worse than before delivers the moral that such an offer is incredibly overrated. The only concept that could have been older is that of Pandora's Box, where something that showed promise of wealth and riches turned out bringing disease and death. The key difference is that Pandora's Box is just a concept of being careful when you come across suspicious objects. "The Monkey's Paw" has that concept, but it takes the direction of being careful about what choices you make, because you may very well regret them. The White family seemed to be living a rough life, but they were happy and content as a family. After the paw, Mr. and Mrs. White were frazzled, saddened, and most importantly, without a son. They would have been better off just rejecting the offer from Sergeant-Major Morris from using what the paw had to offer.
This should definitely make up a discussion in an English class, a literary discussion, or even a group that's discussing horror as a genre. While it resides in a genre, which does not sit well with literary critics, it is an excellent story with a frightful, but powerful message. It grabs you and it engraves itself in your cranium, leaving you to think years after the story has been told. This is perhaps the story that has grabbed on the tightest and made the biggest impact when it comes to stories I read during my English classes in high school. I still remember reading the play and film and when I went back to read the story, that was the icing on the cake. I highly encourage all of my followers, literary enthusiasts, and horror fiction lovers to search for this story and give it a read. It's not too demanding, so don't worry about time constraints. You can easily finish it in one sitting. Then you will remember it for the rest of your life.