# I explained — The Lady of the Barge

> Chapter companion for The Lady of the Barge by W. W. Jacobs.

## What happens

On a cold, wet night at Laburnam Villa, the White family—Mr. White, his wife, and their son Herbert—are visited by Sergeant-Major Morris, a veteran of twenty-one years in India. Morris tells them about a dried monkey's paw that has been enchanted by a fakir to grant three wishes to three separate men, but warns that interfering with fate brings sorrow. He reveals that he himself has had his three wishes and that the first owner's final wish was for death. Despite his warnings, Mr. White retrieves the paw from the fire and keeps it. After Morris leaves, the family jests about the paw, and Mr. White makes a first wish for two hundred pounds. He feels the paw twist in his hand like a snake, unsettling him. Herbert later sees a horrible simian face in the fire before retiring.

## Themes in this chapter

### Fate and Superstition

The monkey's paw is introduced as a talisman meant to show that 'fate ruled people's lives, and that those who interfered with it did so to their sorrow,' setting up the central conflict between human desire and destiny.

### Greed and Its Consequences

Mr. White's wish for two hundred pounds, made despite Morris's warnings, foreshadows the tragic outcomes that arise from trying to alter one's fortune.

## Character check-ins

### Mr. White

Hosts Sergeant-Major Morris, retrieves the monkey's paw from the fire despite warnings, and makes the first wish for two hundred pounds.

### Mrs. White

Knits by the fire, listens to Morris's tales, and later regards her husband anxiously after his wish.

### Herbert White

Plays chess with his father, jokes about the paw, and sees a horrible simian face in the dying fire before bed.

### Sergeant-Major Morris

Visits the Whites, tells of the monkey's paw's origins and his own three wishes, and warns Mr. White against keeping it.

## Key lines

> He wanted to show that fate ruled people's lives, and that those who interfered with it did so to their sorrow.

The fakir enchanted the paw to demonstrate that destiny controls human existence, and meddling with it brings grief.

_Morris explains the moral lesson behind the monkey's paw's magic._

> I wish for two hundred pounds.

Mr. White makes his first wish aloud, hoping to clear the mortgage on his house.

_This is the pivotal moment when the Whites set the paw's curse in motion._

> It moved... As I wished, it twisted in my hand like a snake.

Mr. White feels the paw writhe in his grasp immediately after making his wish, startling him.

_The physical reaction of the paw suggests that the wish has been heard and may be granted._

## Links

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- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_lady_of_the_barge_se/chapters