Irony in the Monkey's Paw

W.W. Jacobs uses irony as a main point in his story "The Monkey's Paw." The story shows irony when the White couple wishes for a sum of money, only to receive it as compensation from their son's death, and when Mrs. White forces her husband to wish her son back to life, causing his mangled corpse to show up at their door. These are both cases of irony because although they get their wishes, they are not at all to the effect that they hope for.

At first Mr. White is very skeptical of the powers the paw is said to possess. While Mr. White is uncertain of what to wish for, his sons suggests asking the paw for 200 pounds. "‘If you only cleared the house, you'd be quite happy, wouldn't you?' said Herbert, with his hand on his shoulder. ‘Well, wish for two hundred pounds, then; that'll just do it.'" Although there is no immediate sign of the wish coming true, a man comes the next day to inform them of their son's death. They do not realize the effects of the paw until they receive the compensation of 200 pounds. They then realize the paw's evil curse.

After days of grieving, Mrs. White gets the idea to use the paw to wish her son back to life.

"‘The other two wishes,' she replied rapidly. ‘We've only had one.'

‘Was not that enough?' he demanded fiercely.

‘No,' she cried, triumphantly; ‘we'll have one more. Go down and get it quickly, and wish our boy alive again.'"

Mr. White strongly suggests to his wife that it would only cause more harm, but she refuses to listen. Mrs. White gets her wish as her husband asks the paw for his son to come back to life. Their son's mutilated body arrives at their doorstep. In a last attempt to prevent his