Friday, May 9, 2014

When a stranger comes to the Whites' door in "The Monkey's Paw," why does Mrs. White think he has come?

Mrs. White actually has no clue who the stranger is who
comes to her door in Chapter II of "The Monkey's Paw." She had noticed the man lingering
outside their home, and three times he had passed the front gate without entering.
Finally, he thrust open the gate and knocked on the door. Mrs. White welcomed him inside
and apologized for the untidiness of the house. When he finally introduced himself as a
representative of Maw and Meggins, Herbert's place of business, she and her husband knew
the news was not good.


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     "I'm sorry--" began the
visitor.
     "Is he hurt?" demanded the mother, wildly.
     The
visitor bowed in assent. "Badly hurt," he said, quietly, "but he is not in any
pain."
     "Oh, thank God!" said the old woman, clasping her hands. "Thank
God for that! Thank--"
     She broke off suddenly as the sinister meaning of
the assurance dawned upon her and she saw the awful confirmation of her fears in the
other's perverted face. 



The
stranger had come to inform them that Herbert was dead, but that the paw's wish had come
true: The family would receive 200 pounds as insurance compensation for Herbert's
accidental death.

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