The Monkey's Paw quiz

Questions and answers

1. 1

   Question 1. Which literary genres best describe "The Monkey's Paw"?

   • Adventure Fiction & Exploration
   • Naturalism & Determinism
   • Correct answer: Horror & Supernatural Fiction
   • Realism & Social Observation
   • Gothic Romance & Melodrama

   Horror & Supernatural Fiction perfectly fits: a cursed magical object, escalating dread, horrifying consequences of tampering with fate, and an ending that suggests something worse than death.

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2. 2

   Question 2. How does Jacobs establish atmosphere in the story's opening?

   • Thunder and lightning foreshadow coming disaster
   • Morning fog blankets the landscape in eerie silence
   • Bright sunshine and birdsong create peaceful optimism
   • Correct answer: Cold, wet night outside contrasts with cozy warmth inside

   The story opens with 'the night was cold and wet' outside while inside the Whites enjoy a warm fire and chess game. This contrast between exterior danger and interior safety sets up the paw's intrusion into their safe domestic world.

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3. 3

   Question 3. What is Sergeant-Major Morris's attitude toward the monkey's paw?

   • He thinks it's a silly superstition with no power
   • Correct answer: He's terrified of it and wants to destroy it
   • He treasures it as a valuable good-luck charm
   • He's eager to make his own wishes and test its magic

   Morris is clearly afraid of the paw, having seen its terrible effects. He throws it into the fire to destroy it, warning that it brings only misery. His fear and desire to destroy it reveal he knows firsthand the horror it causes.

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4. 4

   Question 4. How many wishes does the monkey's paw grant each of its owners?

   • Correct answer: Three
   • Seven
   • Unlimited
   • One

   The paw grants three wishes to three different people—but each wish comes at a terrible price.

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5. 5

   Question 5. According to Morris, why was the monkey's paw created?

   • To punish greedy people by granting wishes in cruel, twisted forms
   • Correct answer: To show that fate rules lives and shouldn't be tampered with
   • To bring luck and prosperity to each new owner of the paw
   • To protect British soldiers in India from injury in battle

   Morris explains that 'an old fakir' placed a spell on the paw 'to show that fate ruled people's lives, and that those who interfered with it did so to their sorrow.' The paw is meant to teach a lesson about accepting one's destiny.

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6. 6

   Question 6. What is Mr. White's first wish?

   • The rank of emperor so he cannot be henpecked
   • A look round India to see fakirs
   • Correct answer: £200 to clear the mortgage on the house
   • Four pairs of hands to help his wife with supper

   Herbert points out that clearing the house would make his father happy and says, "Well, wish for two hundred pounds, then; that'll just do it." Mr. White makes the wish half-jokingly — the sum is modest and purposeful, which makes its terrible fulfilment all the more horrifying.

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7. 7

   Question 7. What is Herbert's attitude toward the monkey's paw before his death?

   • Correct answer: Playful and mocking, treating it as a joke
   • Respectful and cautious about its potential danger
   • Greedy, encouraging multiple wishes for wealth
   • Deeply superstitious and frightened by its power

   Herbert treats the paw as a joke from the start — he winks at his mother, sits down and strikes a few impressive chords on the piano while his father wishes, and afterwards says, "Well, I don't see the money, and I bet I never shall." His mockery makes his death — the source of the £200 — tragically ironic.

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8. 8

   Question 8. How does Herbert die?

   • Staircase fall
   • Painless fever
   • Flooded road drowning
   • Correct answer: Machinery accident

   Herbert is caught in the machinery at Maw and Meggins, dying in a terrible industrial accident. His employer brings £200 as compensation—fulfilling the wish.

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9. 9

   Question 9. How does the company representative present the £200 compensation?

   • Correct answer: As sympathy without admitting any legal responsibility
   • As legal obligation admitting company fault and negligence
   • As a generous gift showing the company's kindness
   • As payment for Mr. White's future silence about the accident

   The representative emphasizes the payment is 'in consideration of your son's services' and a mark of sympathy, carefully avoiding any admission of company fault. This legal evasion adds to the horror—Herbert's life reduced to a calculated business transaction.

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10. 10

    Question 10. How does Mr. White react when he realizes the wish has been granted?

    • He immediately seizes the monkey's paw and hurls it back into the parlour fire
    • He blames his wife for urging the two-hundred-pound wish
    • Correct answer: He smiles faintly and drops in a dead faint, understanding the connection
    • He refuses to believe there is any connection between the sum and the wish

    When the visitor names the sum, Mr. White is "unconscious of his wife's shriek" — he "smiled faintly, put out his hands like a sightless man, and dropped, a senseless heap, to the floor." The shriek is hers; no one catches him. He has understood that his son's life was traded for the exact sum he wished for.

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11. 11

    Question 11. What does 'furtively' mean in the story?

    • Angrily and aggressively, looking for a quarrel
    • Correct answer: Secretly and stealthily, trying not to be noticed
    • Carelessly and inattentively, making no effort to hide
    • Quickly and energetically, rushing through the painful errand

    Furtively means doing something in a secretive, stealthy manner. Jacobs uses it once, of the man from Maw and Meggins, who "gazed at her furtively" as he worked up to telling Mrs. White that her son is dead — the word carries his dread of the news he is carrying.

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12. 12

    Question 12. Why does Mrs. White insist on making the second wish?

    • She doesn't believe the paw caused Herbert's death
    • She wants to wish for more money to ease their grief
    • She wants to wish for understanding why Herbert had to die
    • Correct answer: She's overcome by grief and desperate to bring Herbert back

    In her overwhelming grief, Mrs. White suddenly realizes they still have two wishes left. She becomes desperate to wish Herbert alive again, ignoring the horrifying implications of what might return after ten days buried.

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13. 13

    Question 13. How does the knocking at the door change as Mrs. White struggles with the bolt?

    • Correct answer: It grows from a stealthy knock into a perfect fusillade
    • It moves around the house from the front door to the parlour window
    • It stops after exactly three knocks, then falls silent
    • It stays a quiet, stealthy tapping all the way through

    The knocking escalates. It begins "so quiet and stealthy as to be scarcely audible," is repeated, then a third knock sounds, then a loud one, then "another knock, and another" — until "a perfect fusillade of knocks reverberated through the house." It stops only when the third wish is made.

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14. 14

    Question 14. Why does Mr. White resist making the second wish?

    • He blames himself and refuses to interfere with fate
    • He wants to save the remaining wishes for emergencies
    • He no longer believes the paw has any real power
    • Correct answer: He's terrified of what might return after ten days buried

    Mr. White is horrified by the thought of what might return. He tells his wife, 'He has been dead ten days, and besides he—I would not tell you else, but—I could only recognize him by his clothing.' He understands something worse than death might answer that door.

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15. 15

    Question 15. What does Mr. White likely wish for with the third and final wish?

    • That he and his wife forget all that has happened
    • Correct answer: That the knocking visitor go away or return to death
    • That the monkey's paw lose all its magical power
    • That Herbert be restored to life properly

    Though never explicitly stated, the evidence suggests Mr. White wishes the thing at the door away. After he frantically makes the third wish, the knocking stops, and when Mrs. White opens the door, the street is empty. He has sent their son back to death.

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16. 16

    Question 16. What does the monkey's paw symbolize in the story?

    • The power of parental love to overcome death and undo a cruel fate
    • The spiritual wisdom and power of Eastern mysticism
    • Correct answer: The dangers of interfering with fate and greed's consequences
    • British colonialism and the exotic treasures taken home from the colonies

    The paw symbolizes the danger of trying to control fate and the consequences of greed. Every wish is granted in the worst possible way—showing that fate cannot be manipulated without terrible cost. The Whites' modest desires lead to catastrophic loss.

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17. 17

    Question 17. What is the central irony of the Whites' first wish?

    • They wish for their son's success at Maw and Meggins, but he dies a failure
    • They wish for happiness but become the saddest family in England
    • Correct answer: They wish for a small amount and receive it through unimaginable tragedy
    • They wish for two hundred pounds but lose Laburnum Villa and every possession

    The bitter irony is that the Whites wish for a modest £200—not wealth or power, just a small sum. They receive exactly £200, but through the death of their beloved son. The smallness of the wish makes its fulfillment even more horrific.

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18. 18

    Question 18. What does the story's ambiguous ending suggest?

    • Mrs. White imagined the knocking in her desperate longing for Herbert
    • The entire experience was a shared delusion caused by grief
    • Herbert was never really dead and returns home safely
    • Correct answer: Something horrible was at the door, forcing the third wish

    The ending strongly suggests something horrible was at the door—likely Herbert's mangled corpse reanimated. Mr. White's terror, his frantic search for the paw, and the way the knocking stops only after the third wish all indicate something unnatural was trying to enter.

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19. 19

    Question 19. What does the story suggest about the relationship between desire and consequence?

    • Correct answer: Our desires, no matter how small, can lead to unforeseen tragedy
    • Strong human desires can overcome any obstacle, including death itself
    • Desires fulfilled by supernatural means always turn out safer than honest work
    • Selfish wishes are punished while selfless ones are rewarded

    The story demonstrates that desires—even modest, seemingly innocent ones—can have catastrophic unforeseen consequences. The paw grants wishes literally but cruelly, showing that trying to control fate through shortcuts leads to horror.

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20. 20

    Question 20. How does Jacobs foreshadow the paw's dark power early in the story?

    • Supernatural events occur in the house before the wish
    • Correct answer: Morris's haunted expression and his attempt to destroy the paw
    • The weather becomes violent when the paw enters the house
    • Herbert has dark premonitions and dreams of his own death

    Morris's behavior is the key foreshadowing—he tells them to "let it burn," throws it in the fire himself, and warns them against making wishes. His haunted demeanor and desperate attempt at destruction show he knows the paw's terrible power firsthand.

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21. 21

    Question 21. Which of these events actually happened in the story?

    • The Whites live in a house called Laburnum Villa.

      Happened

      The story specifically names their home Laburnum Villa, establishing their modest but comfortable middle-class setting.

    • Sergeant-Major Morris brings the monkey's paw from India.

      Happened

      Morris obtained the paw during his service in India, where an old fakir had placed a spell on it.

    • Mr. White throws the monkey's paw into the fire himself.

      Didn't happen

      Morris throws the paw into the fire to destroy it, but Mr. White quickly retrieves it from the flames with a cry.

    • When Mr. White makes the first wish, the paw moves in his hand.

      Happened

      Mr. White cries out and glances at the paw in disgust: "it twisted in my hand like a snake"—suggesting dark supernatural power.

    • Herbert works at a place called Maw and Meggins.

      Happened

      Herbert is employed at Maw and Meggins, where the machinery accident occurs that kills him.

    • The representative from Maw and Meggins admits the company was at fault.

      Didn't happen

      The representative carefully avoids admitting fault, calling the payment a gesture of sympathy: Maw and Meggins "disclaim all responsibility" and "admit no liability at all."

    • The Whites receive exactly £200 as compensation.

      Happened

      The company pays exactly £200—the precise amount wished for—as compensation for Herbert's death, fulfilling the wish in the worst possible way.

    • Mrs. White opens the door before Mr. White makes the third wish.

      Didn't happen

      Mr. White finds the paw and makes the third wish just before Mrs. White gets the door open. When she finally opens it, the street is empty.

    • The knocking at the door comes about a week after Herbert's funeral.

      Happened

      The burial is followed by "about a week" of silence before Mrs. White forces the second wish, and the knocking begins shortly after. Mr. White's own count — "He has been dead ten days" — measures from Herbert's death, not from the funeral.

    • At the end, the Whites find Herbert standing at the door alive and well.

      Didn't happen

      When Mrs. White finally opens the door, the street is 'quiet and deserted'—the third wish has sent whatever was there away.

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