About
- Why The Monkey's Paw?
- The Monkey's Paw is on of my favorite short stories. I might even say it is my absolute favorite! I am a big fan of Horror, Suspence, Thriller, Gothic Horror (the list really goes on) and I wanted something that would reflect my love for that. I had two ideas for the Literature event, but I lack time. I started trying to figure out a way to manage my time to still participate and an idea popped into my head. The Monkey's Paw! It was short but I had also read it enough times that I know the content a little too well. In this way, I didn't have to schedule time to read something new. I also got to re-read an old favorite and in the last week, I've read the story three times.
- Why No Evil?
- There's an old saying featuring three monkeys bearing the words "See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Speak No Evil." It promotes right actions and thoughts. There are some that believe that there is a fourth monkey that insists on "Think/Act No Evil." This worked perfectly for me because of all the things we do with our hands. The idea of the monkey's paw in conjunction with that was that the paw itself doesn't do evil. The thoughts of the person holding it controls what happens. Of course, they are not necessarily "evil" thoughts, but I liked the connection of it. What do we think? How do we do it? And at whose expense? Are even our best thoughts evil? Can we control that? For me it became that perhaps the paw wasn't evil, perhaps we are. Still human nature aside, I thought that perhaps the idea of the monkey's paw is to warn about what we wish for. In that sense, I feel that it reaffirms the "See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Speak No Evil, Do No Evil." I am also a firm believer that objects and words have only the power that we give them. In that case, if we believe that the paw is evil - it is. I suppose, without being too indepth or analytical, the short version can be monkeys.