THE MONKEY'S PAW // W. W. JACOBS

This is a story about a mystical monkey's paw that is brought into the home of the White family by their friend, Sergeant Major Morris who has recently returned from India. The monkey's paw has the ability to grant 3 wishes to 3 people. The Sergeant was the 2nd owner of the paw and it's 1st owner's last wish was to die. The Sergeant expresses grief over the monkey's paw and tries to destroy it, so Mr. White takes it off his hands for a small fee.  His first wish is for 200 pounds, and when nothing happens immediately, he and his wife and son Herbert, think that the monkey's paw is a fake. The Whites’ first wish comes true, however they get the money from Herbert's factory after he is accidentally pulled into a machine and mangled to death.  The 2nd wish is thought of by Mrs. White and it is to bring her son back to life after 10 days of being dead. Again the couple are disappointed when nothing happens immediately upon their wishing. The couple then begin to hear the sound of someone arriving at their door and a loud knocking begins.  Mrs. White wants to rush to the door, thinking it is her son, however Mr. White is not so sure and tries to convince her to stay in their room. After more knocking ensures, the couple decide to go and check the door. As Mrs. White rushes to the door to open it, she realises she can't reach the lock, and drags a chair to the door while Mr. White is anxiously looking for the monkey's paw to make a 3rd wish. When he finds the paw, he makes his 3rd wish - to return whatever is at the door back to the grave, and just as Mrs. White opens the door, there is nothing there but the dark empty night.  

This story, as implied by the quote written before the tale begins, is a question of being ‘careful what you wish for.’ Much of the greediness of humanity in order to gain whatever you ‘wish for’ is explored through the character of Mr White.  Mr White treats his wife by dismissing her comments constantly, and ignoring her presence and reactions to events, ‘unconscious of his wife’s shriek…he dropped to the floor.’ He also dismisses her desire to ‘bring her son back’, a reasonable wish for any parent. He responds to by demoralising her with phrases like ‘you don’t know what you’re saying’ and repeatedly saying ‘for God’s sake,’ demonstrating the diminishing of women’s voices and feelings by the male patriarchy. The woman is seen as ‘hysterical’ and inferior, simply for expressing her views. Mr White is also ‘afraid of his own son’, evident by the fact that he doesn’t want to let his son into the house despite his wife’s insistence. He is perhaps afraid of the risk to himself of his son’s power and youthfulness, which Mr White no longer possesses. His power over these two individuals express his need to have power and to obtain the ‘wishes’ that will be granted by the Monkey’s paw. This story uses a lot of gothic elements - such as the metonymy of gloom and horror, an atmosphere of mystery and suspense and gender stereotypes (woman in distress). The metonymy of gloom and horror is explored through the entrance of the ‘visitor.'The visitor is firstly introduced as ‘mysterious’ who was ‘peering into’ the house, which suggests that he has a sinister intention (e.g isn’t a friendly visitor.) He paused three times at the gate, and the use of the ‘power of three’ here explores the dark connotations of that number and what it means for the gothic genre - bad luck and suspicion. In order to build at atmosphere of mystery and suspense, the writer builds up tension before the arrival of the man from Maw and Meggins. In order to build tension before the arrival of the factory worker, Jacobs uses almost a stream of consciousness to recount everything that Mrs White is seeing outside. The language is very detailed and is made up of fairly long sentences such as: ‘In mental connexion with the two hundred pounds, she noticed that the stranger was well dressed, and wore a silk hat of glossy newness.’ These long sentences create a sense of continuance, and that the thoughts will eventually build up to a crescendo. The long length of the sentences also builds up the tension, with words such as ‘mysterious’ and ‘undecided.’ These sentence lengths encourage the reader to believe something isn’t right, and that something horrible is about to occur. The insistent knocking surrounding the person at the door intensifies the feeling of suspense and tension throughout this part of the story. On the third knock the old woman screams ‘WHAT’S THAT?’ This exclamatory remark emphasises the terror surrounding the knocking on the door. The knocks create a sense of foreboding with it’s repetitive manner. A further sense of panic is exacerbated through the use of descriptive sound effects; ‘he heard the creaking of the bolt…the scraping of the chair…knocks reverberated through the house.’ These sounds give us a sense of what Mr White is hearing and experiencing, where the sounds are taking over his senses and contributing to his mentally unstable state. Typical gender stereotypes of the Victorian era are also explored. The writer describes how the wife ‘drew back with a grimace’ upon seeing the paw, which emphasises her inability as a woman to deal with superstitious or potentially dangerous items. This is different to how the men react, which is with curiosity and eagerness, emphasising their ability as men to be engaged in such news. This shows the gender stereotypes of the era - the frightful women and the powerful men. However interestingly, Mr White’s physical reaction upon realising the consequence of his wish is contrary to Victorian gender stereotypes. The old man ‘put out his hands likes a sightless man and dropped….to the floor,’ upon hearing the news of the death of his son. This is very contrary to Victorian gender stereotypes because traditionally the woman would have this reaction to hearing this kind of news. It is a very typically ‘feminine’ reaction, and emphasises the fragility of women and therefore Mr White having this reaction is completely unexpected. This story concludes with a surprise ending, a technique used by many gothic writers. 

A HORSEMAN IN THE SKY // AMBROSE BIERCE

In 1861, a Union sentry sleeps at his post near a road on a high mountain cliff. Below him lies a narrow valley through which his military unit must pass in order to attack an army on the other side of the mountain. When he wakes up, he sees an enemy soldier on horseback at the edge of the cliff observing the troop movement below. The sentry is struck by the beauty of the motionless figures silhouetted against the sky and is momentarily torn between his desire to preserve that beauty and to carry out his sworn duty to kill the enemy. He remembers the last words of his father,  who, despite his sadness at his son joining the army, nonetheless commands him to "do his duty." The sentry lifts his rifle and fires, causing the horse and rider to plunge from the top of the cliff. Moments later, when the sentry is questioned by his sergeant, it is discovered that the Confederate soldier whom the sentry killed is the sentry's own father.

The main human question explored in this text is deciding what is more important: personal values or doing one’s duty? Carter Druse, the main character in this story, feels bound by honour to join the army, despite his father disagreeing with his decision.  However, his father does in fact instruct him to do “….whatever may occur do what you conceive to be your duty. “ This is an important aspect of the story as it links directly to the American ideology of the utmost importance of War and representing one’s country over personal matters. He is at first reluctant as Druse is not representing their home state of Virginia, and is therefore a “traitor” to the state. This also affirms the concept of ultimate pride in one’s home and always supporting your state over others. This links back to ideas explored in the American Bill of Rights, where one must be 'commander of their own home’ and not allow any other men to enter into it and threaten sovereignty. It also reveals that the father wants him to act with "conscience and courage, by deeds of devotion and daring,” in order to properly fulfil his duty as an officer. Druse’s conversation with his father also explains that their relationship is not very close, made obvious by the bowing and saluting they give to each other at the end of the conversation. This reflects the dynamics of many families in the 19th century War period, where the family members were disconnected on topics other than War. The tension of the story is created by Druse's apparent dilemma in choosing between his duty to his family and to Virginia and his perceived duty to the United States. This is the flaw that ultimately dooms him when the climax of the story forces Druse to decide between the moral imperative of honouring his father and the military necessity of killing his father, whom he encounters as a soldier. While reading, Druse's character might seem sympathetic, faced as he is with the difficulties of war, deeper analysis concerning his abandonment of his family, his dereliction of duty, and his ultimate patricide (killing his father) may leave a different impression. Carter Druse's father is almost a godlike figure. He initially is presented as a stern parent disapproving of Carter Druse's abandonment of his mother (perhaps even more so than of his political decision). His son's decision to kill him, in one sense to be viewed as an acceptance of military duty, perhaps has as much to do with the young man's chafing under strict patriarchal control.

THE WINDING SHEET // ANN PETRY

This story is about a black man called Mr Johnson who lives with his wife Mae, and they both work the night shift in a labour plant. One Friday, Johnson goes to work and is yelled at by his boss for consistently being late. Then Johnson gets rejected at an all night restuarant by the coffee lady because he is black. He continues to be rejected or treated with disdain at other places, and looks at each of these situations as a racial insult and gets extremely mad. The only way to let out his anger is to physically abuse his wife, even though he reflects on his family's values when he does this.

This story explores domestic violence and extreme racism in the 1940’s in America, through the lives of two married African American factory workers. Petry's story suggests that racial discrimination both in the workplace and in society at large is a significant cause of the breakdown in African American family life and marital relationships. The story explores the hatred experienced by African Americans about society’s oppression, which can lead to acts of domestic violence within married couples. The story is written in a subtle tone about the overwhelming anger that discrimination against African Americans can cause. Interestingly, Petry’s exploration of how the African American woman fits into this deadly cycle of abuse is quite prominent, evident in the line “the knowledge that he had struck her seeped through him slowly and he was appalled but he couldn’t drag his hands away from her face.” The close dialogue between the characters changes over the course of the story, and ultimately ends in a brutal act of domestic violence. This use of language is most obviously used through the phrase ‘the winding sheet’, which begins as a humorous statement and finishes the story as a terrifying concept through which the protagonist identifies himself. Before going to work, the protagonist smiles as he sees his 'black arms silhouetted against the white of the sheets' and tries to shake off the negative connotations of a winding sheet, a shroud, but by the end, knows this is exactly what he thinks of it. The racially charged dialogue between a woman and the male protagonist at his work place intensifies his hatred of racial vilification, and the discourse used to describe the women of the story, and the fact that they can’t ‘hit back the same way a man can’, brings forth his misogyny. This in particular draws attention to the treatment of women in the 1940’s, especially in work place environments and the belief that they were incapable of acts committed by men.

CAT IN THE RAIN // HEMINGWAY

This story is about Two Americans staying at a hotel in Italy. The hotel room is situated so that it has a lovely view of the monument outside, however on this day it is raining. The wife is looking out of the window and spots a cat under a table that is trying to keep dry. She tells her husband that she is going to get it and when she goes downstairs she is greeted by the hotel operator, whose seriousness and willingness to please her impresses her. When she goes outside, she does not find the cat so she goes back upstairs and begins to complain to her husband about her appearance and lack of expensive possessions. She decides that she wants a cat to stroke, and a table with her own silver, and some new clothing, to which her husband tells her to stop complaining. However, she says that she still wants a cat. Just then, someone knocks at the door and it is the maid who has brought up a cat, at the request of the hotel operator. 

This story explores the decadence of the American lifestyle and the obsessive consumer culture and materialistic lifestyle of westerners. The excessive list of items that the wife wants to own emphasises this, and even when her husband tells her she is being ridiculous and instead should ‘read a book,’ she continues to strive to obtain more materialistic possessions. She has a never-ending desire to possess, and this story in particular explores the American culture of materialism in comparison with other cultures. The Italian culture is examined in this story, where the employees are always at the disposal of the rich westerners and impress them with their impeccable respect and service, 'She liked his dignity. She liked the way he wanted to serve her.’ This is contrasted with the way the Americans treat the servants, in an offhand manner which is expectant and demanding - as if they are entitled to dismiss the Italians simply because of their status. The Italian way of vacationing also contrasts the American culture in that the war memorial outside the Americans window is where the Italians come to mourn and honour the dead. They are more involved in the ideas of the place than in owning things from it. It is also a more communal way of living, to honour the sacrifices of others, rather than to stay inside and read. The woman in the story is also never referred to as her name and instead as ’the wife’ consistently throughout the story. This signifies that she is defined by her marital status, and as the story  is written from a male writer’s view of what a woman thinks she should like, ‘I get so tired of looking like a boy,’ there are typically feminine desires explored rather than realistic ones. The couple in this story are the archetype of a certain type of wealthy Americans after the disaster of the Great War in 1917 - placing importance on travel and expense rather than confronting their own internal issues. 

THE STORY OF AN HOUR // KATE CHOPIN

This story opens with a woman, Louise Mallard who has heart trouble, and who must be informed carefully about her husband’s death. Her sister tells her that her husband was killed in a railroad accident, and upon hearing this news she begins to sob and goes upstairs to be alone in her room. She sits down and looks out of the window to see trees, and people going about their business on the street. She is young, with lines around her eyes, which fill with tears as she gazes still into the distance.  She attempts to suppress the building emotions within her, but she can’t and she begins repeating the word Free! to herself over and over again. Louise knows she’ll cry again when she sees Brently’s corpse. But then she imagines the years ahead without him, when she will be free, on her own without anyone to oppress her. Louise knows that she did love her husband but tells herself that none of that matters anymore. She is thrilled with her newfound sense of independence. Her sister comes to her door and begs Louise to come outside, to which Louise tells her to go away. She continues to imagine about all the days and years ahead and hopes that she lives a long life. Eventually she goes downstairs and the front door opens, to reveal her husband. He hadn’t been in the train accident or even aware that one had happened. Louise dies upon seeing him and when the doctors arrive, they pronounce that Louise died of a heart attack brought on by happiness. 

This explores the story of a woman in domesticity - a woman who is trapped by her husband and defined only by her marital status. Throughout the story she is the subject of the masculine discourse of the story. This masculine discourse, which finally pronounces her dead, begins at the beginning of the story when she is introduced as “Mrs. Mallard” and referred to as “she” for most of the narrative. Only when Louise has become “free! Body and soul free!” is she addressed by her own name. But this change is short-lived as Louise’s status as “wife” is reestablished at once when her husband comes in “view of his wife.” Her marriage epitomises the status of women in the early 20th century in that the woman is subject to the patriarch’s “powerful will bending hers.” When Louise reflects on her new-found liberation she  “abandon[s] herself” in a room of her own where she speaks for the first time. She must not make her “joy” public under any circumstances. She is extremely conscious of her social duty as a widow to grieve her husband and like many wives in late 19th century America, Louise would be master of herself only after her husband’s death. The room that Louise inhabits is also significant, because it is only a temporary refuge which she must leave as she always was going to. The self she is in her room does not have any value in the world of masculine discourse and therefore may as well have not existed. In fact, her existence depended on a lack of self, since a woman was meant to live for others. The woman is locked in the prison of her own home and is only free when she is dreaming about being out of wedlock. This explores the repressive role that marriage played in women’s lives in the era it was written.  

THE DARK BROWN DOG // STEPHEN CRANE

This story tells the tale of a boy who finds a dark brown dog on his walk. The boy pats the dog for a while, and then decides to walk home but as he walks, he realises that the dog is following him. The dog continues to follow him, so the boy decides to hit him in order to send the message that he doesn’t want him to come home with him. Yet the dog keeps follows him. Eventually the boy brings the dog into his house, but when the boy’s father sees the dog he is not happy, despite the rest of the family agreeing to keep him. Over time, the boy and the dog develop a strong relationship, but when the boy isn’t looking the dog is violently abused. The dog is very distressed by being abused and while he is asleep he howls and moans because of his horrible nightmares. The only person who cares about him is the boy, who makes the dog very happy when he is around him. One night, the boy’s father comes home very drunk and begins to abuse the dog, until finally he throws him out the window to his death. The young boy rushes out of their home, distraught, and is found later seated next to the dog.

This story shows the dark themes that lay behind many American lives in the 1890’s, including violence, toughness and rampant abuse. Racism is explicitly explored through the metaphor of the dog for a foreigner or outsider that merely wanted to be accepted into American life. The use of the young boy and his feelings towards the dog represent the somewhat inclusive minority of people who accepted people of other races into America. The father and the rest of the family represent the majority of people in that time - people who treated foreigners’ existence as a joke or something that could be eradicated with abuse and extreme power. It is written in the style of naturalism - with detailed descriptions of the abuse the dog endures, "The dog, yelling in supreme astonishment and fear, writhed to his feet and ran for cover. The man kicked out with a ponderous foot.” These descriptions that are found throughout the text contribute to the writer’s total effect of horrific abuse on an individual who meant no harm. The writing is graphic, and this is effective as it fully reveals the extent to which racism and violence was rampant in America during this time. The setting of this story is significant as it shows New York City at the cusp of transition between agricultural society and the industrial revolution, particularly in the Bowery tenements that housed immigrants from eastern Europe and Ireland. It explores the extreme family dysfunction that was the norm for many American families due to the 19th century post civl war era where urban people were barely eking out an existence and living in rampant poverty.

THE GIFT OF THE MAJI // O. HENRY

This story tells the tale of a young married couple,  Jim, and Della. The couple are very poor and live in a simple, unfurnished apartment where they have only two possessions of value: Jim’s gold pocket watch and Della’s long hair. The story takes place on Christmas Eve, and Della is out of time to buy Jim a Christmas present, and only has $1.87 left to buy him one. Desperate to find him the perfect gift, she goes out looking and finds a chain for Jim's pocket watch, but it is far too expensive. At home, Della looks at her beautiful hair and thinks, before rushing out and has her hair cut to sell. Della receives $20.00 for selling her hair, just enough to buy the platinum chain she saw in a window. When Jim comes home from work, he stares at Della, trying to figure out what's different about her, until Della tells him that she sold her hair to buy his present. Before she can give it to him, Jim pulls a package out of his overcoat pocket and hands it to her. It is a pair of expensive hair combs that she'd long wanted, but are now useless since all her hair is gone. Hiding her tears, she gives Jim the watch chain to which Jim shrugs and tells Della that he sold his watch to buy her combs. The story ends with a comparison of Jim and Della's gifts to the gifts that the 'Maji' or three wise men gave to Jesus in the manger in the biblical story of Christmas. The narrator comes to the conclusion that Jim and Della are far wiser than the Magi because their gifts are gifts of love, and those who give out of love and self-sacrifice are truly wise because they know the value of self-giving love. 

This story is an in depth exploration of the lower class and the constant struggles that the couple has to deal with every day, but particularly the issues they have at a supposedly wonderful time of the year. In 1905 when this story was published, America was experiencing an economic crisis that heavily affected members of the working class - people just like Jim and Della. Christmas was a particularly difficult time for many families, who would struggle to make ends meet as well as even considering spending money on presents for others. What is interesting, is that the couple's two items of value explore the elevation of expense in the time, and the fact that they coveted these items emphasises society’s reliance on expensive things to feel fulfilled. This idea is also explored in the fact that Della feels as though she must buy Jim a gift of value and going to extreme lengths to do this. However, despite being uplifting at it's conclusion, this story shows the typical roles of men and women, the woman at home worrying about her husband and the housework, where the man is out working. This story is predominately written as though from Della's perspective of events happening and therefore shows how tough it would be to be a woman and have to sacrifice her beauty in order to please her husband. These roles are reminiscent of the era, as men had to feed their family and keep the family's reputation upheld, while the woman worried about domestic duties and keeping the house looking spotless. In that time however, the lower class would not have had decadent houses and possessions and instead had 'shabby little couches' which 'did not beggar description.' This depiction of the couple's home is historically realistic to how many couples lived during the crisis. This story
contains a twist at the end, similiar to many stories of the era and contains many allusions to well known historical figures - Queen Sheba and King Solomon. This story is known as a classic American Christmas tale because of it’s emphasis on giving and the spirit of caring for others. However, it is also widely known as a story that foreigners relate to when they arrive in America - relating to the economic issues explored in this text.