On The Monkey's Paw

In addition to reading Frankenstein, I read the short story 'The Monkey's Paw'. It peaked my curiosity because I've heard about the story from other collections of horror stories, some of which seemed to reference this one. I read the story and it gave me chills! I definitely thought it was worth the read. I ended up reading it a second time because of its short length. I thought it was incredibly chilling toward the end, when the mother wants so badly for her son to be revived. I thought one of the most scary aspects of the story was that the mother was going insane for the want of her son, and for that reason influenced her husband to call upon the monkey's paw to make yet another wish come true. I also thought it was interesting that the husband complied to his wife's pleas, but I think that happened for a number of reasons. Deep down he of course was feeling his own yearning for his son's return, and also had a vague hope that things would turn out right. It was only when his mind became clear hours later and there was knocking at the door that he came to wish his son back to death. I definitely found myself both sympathizing and empathizing for the old man and his wife. I think that most people, if not everyone, has put a great value into something only to have it taken away from them or lost. This goes for relationships, wealth, as well as death, which is the greatest loss of all because there is no possibility of it ever returning. I believe this is what motivated the mother to call upon the dark magic of the monkey's paw when she knew that it did not do any good. There was still the slightest bit of hope that her son would be returned to her. In the end, however, she learned that there was no hope and that things, while horrible, could be much, much worse.