How the Author Creates Tension and Suspense in the Monkey's Paw

There are many techniques that are used to create tension and suspense in 'The Monkey's Paw'. From the very beginning we can see that the language used sets the scene and conveys the mood of the story; "the night was cold and wet". Pathetic fallacy immediately implies that the story will be based on evil and creates tension as it intrigues the reader. We can see that the language used helps the story to become …

…superstition and scepticism. In the Victorian times, people where very superstitious and would have believed that the Monkey's paw could actually have a magical effect. However, Jacobs contrasts this by having a rational family that has a cavalier attitude to the monkey's paw. This would have created tension and suspense as the readers of the time would have known something bad was going to happen as the White family would have been seen as outcasts.