Do the Whites begin to think that the legend of the monkey’s paw is true in "The Monkey's Paw" by W. W. Jacobs? Which of their actions support...

When Sergeant Major Morris first tells the Whites about his monkey's paw in W. W. Jacob's short story "The Monkey's Paw," the White family members think it's just a fantastical story. They are almost embarrassed to actually make their first wish of 200 pounds and Herbert, their son who suggested the wish, makes fun of their fear. However, by the end of the story, Mr. and Mrs. White fully believe in the legend. The first...

When Sergeant Major Morris first tells the Whites about his monkey's paw in W. W. Jacob's short story "The Monkey's Paw," the White family members think it's just a fantastical story. They are almost embarrassed to actually make their first wish of 200 pounds and Herbert, their son who suggested the wish, makes fun of their fear. However, by the end of the story, Mr. and Mrs. White fully believe in the legend. The first clue they are becoming believers occurs when they receive the horrible news of Herbert's death and learn that the company Herbert works for has a 200 pound check for them:

"Mr. White dropped his wife's hand, and rising to his feet, gazed with a look of horror at his visitor. His dry lips shaped the words, 'How much,?'

'Two hundred pounds,' was the answer.

Unconscious of his wife's shriek, the old man smiled faintly, put out his hands like a sightless man, and dropped, a senseless heap, to the floor" (Jacobs 10).

Some days after the funeral, Mrs. White encourages Mr. White to use the paw again to bring Herbert back, although he now he hesitates a bit before making a wish. Thus, in their own ways, they both display belief in the monkey's paw:

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

'Was that not enough?' he demanded fiercely.

'No,' she cried triumphantly; 'we'll have one more. Go down and get it quickly, and wish our boy alive'" (Jacobs 11).

And finally, in the end, when Mr. White hears the knocking on the door and realizes Herbert has come back from the dead and imagines what he will be, he makes a final wish to put Herbert back in his grave. By this time, Mr. White, too, has no doubt that the power of the monkey's paw is real.