Why does Mr White make a third wish?

“...fate ruled people's lives, and that those who interfered with it did so to their sorrow.” This is a quote from "The Monkey's Paw." This applies to both stories, "The Monkey's Paw" and "The Third Wish," because the main characters, Mr. White and Mr. Peters, both go through hardships, which were caused by their wishes. There are many similarities and differences between the stories. The first similarity is that the story both have three wishes, which become a problem for them. The second is the theme, which both stories have. The third is the mood. Both stories has negative, or dark, aspects; however, similarities, if looked in detail, has minor, or significant, differences. At first, these two stories can be similar; however, these stories…show more content…
Peters going into the woods. The first element is the three wishes and its consequences. In "The Third Wish", Mr. Peters, the main character, goes to the woods to find a swan stuck on a tree. He frees the swan, and the swan transforms into a king. The king thanks Mr. Peters, and gives him three leaves. With the three leaves, Mr. Peters can wish three wishes. The first wish that Mr. Peters wished was for a beautiful wife. Soon, a beautiful woman appears to him and asks him if he can marry her. They live in peace for a while. The consequence was that his wife, Leita, was miserable. Mr. Peters’s wife was originally a swan with a sister, but was separated. Due to this, Mr. Peters felt bad and wished his second wish to turn his wife into a swan. Mr. Peters said his farewells, and parted ways. Soon after, Mr. Peters died alone, without wishing his third wish, and the two swans sang their grieving song. The theme/lesson for "The Third Wish" was selflessness. Mr. Peters was very sacrificial to make his loved one happy. The mood of the story was eerie, warm, sympathetic, etc. This story’s mood is mostly in the positive…show more content…
Although The both characters from each story had the same amount of wishes, they both chose differently, which gave them different consequences. The story had well known moral lessons, and had similar moods in the start. Later on, they changed and became different. My personal response of "The Monkey's Paw" is overall negative. I disliked the plot, because I do not like witchcraft things, and the brutality. From this brutality, I sense the real world; even though this is a fiction story, the brutality gave the story more life. This story also reminds me about how greed is bad. My personal response of "The Third Wish" was positive. I do love romance stories. The story gave me chills, as well as a warm sensation through my body. When Mr. Peters made his wife back to a swan, it was very sad. As a result, Mr. Peters died alone. This story also reminds me of Jesus, who sacrificed for us on the cross. This also sparked a question; can I die for Christ just as he died for

What would someone do if they had only three wishes and knew that there would be a price that they would have to pay in order for them to fulfill their wishes? This is the question that overcomes the main characters, Mr. White and Mr. Peters, in the stories “The Monkey’s Paw” by W.W. Jacobs and “The Third Wish” by Joan Aiken. In these two stories, two men were each allowed to create three wishes and had consequences that followed; therefore, they learned a valuable lesson about life. The men in the two stories were distinct in their own ways, one being very greedy and the other very cautious. In “The Monkey’s Paw,” the main character was Mr. White. He was very discerning. When he was first introduced in “The Monkey Paw,” he asked many questions and was very curious. Mr. White was also very greedy. He was not content with hat he had, and he then, out of all the wishes in the world, asked for two hundred pounds for his own conveniences. On the other hand, the main character of “The Third Wish” is Mr. Peters. Mr. Peters is a kind-hearted, cautious man. The reader can tell that those are his traits for number of reasons. First of all, the reader can tell that Mr. Peters is compassionate because of his reaction towards a swan trying to extricate itself from a branch. He quickly rushes over and tries to free the bird. Another reason why the reader knows that Mr. Peters is kind is because they see how he wants his wife to be happy more than himself. This clearly shows how “warm his heart” is. The reader can also learn that Mr. Peters is cautious by observing the way he thinks about his three wishes. Every time he thinks of a wish, he pricks his tongue with a thorn. The traits both characters demonstrated also led the reade... ... middle of paper ... ...inal was created. The last clue given was when people ask Mr. Peters to just find another wife. Mr. Peters replies that he would be faithful to Leita. This suggests the true love between the two and the loyalty they share between each other.

As I have explained, these two stories, Mr. White and Mr. Peters both were eligible to wish for three things and, therefore, they encountered some consequences. Due to their experiences, the reader learns a valuable lesson about life. All in all, these two stories were very interesting. The way the authors set the mood of the stories based on character traits, wishes, consequences, and theme was very intelligent and well-though-out. Both stories had great themes that helped a reader understand the story and life better. I thought “The Monkey’s Paw,” and “The Third Wish,” were both marvelous pieces of literature.

Mr. White’s grief is twofold as he laments his son’s death as well as his decision to wish on the monkey’s paw in the first place. Unlike his wife, Mr. White realizes he should have never invited trouble by wishing for the two hundred pounds or to bring Herbert back to life. The fact that he believes an unholy creature stands knocking at his door instead of his son suggests that he feels guilty for having let selfishness overtake him when he made his wishes. Instead of passing off the knocking as an unrelated coincidence, he immediately jumps to the conclusion that evil stands on the other side, as if believing the paw has punished him for being greedy. His decision to wish the unwanted visitor away with his third wish may reflect his desire to not only save his and Mrs. White’s lives, but also redeem himself for his sins.

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