Who Is To Blame For The Monkey's Paw

In the short story The Monkey’s Paw, many people are responsible for the bad fate that comes with the ownership of the monkey’s paw, a magical object with a spell cast on it by an old fakir given to a family, the White’s, by an old soldier. In the story, the unfortunate event that comes with the monkey’s paw is the death of the White’s son, Herbert. The question is, however, who’s at the most fault? Mr. White, the father of the family, is seen as the one who the blame for the unlucky happenings should be pointed towards for many reasons. Mr. White is the man at fault in this story. When Sergeant-Major Morris shows up at their house one night, Mr. White is the one who brings up the topic of the monkey’s paw. The Sergeant takes it out of his pocket and continues to explain its bad luck and the unhappiness it brings, and he throws it in the fire they were burning in the room. Mr. White does not think that it should burn. The story states, “White, with a slight cry, stooped down and snatched it off.” (Jacobs - Pg. 9) If Mr. White never would have had curiosity and salvaged the paw from the fire, it would have burned and never hurt anyone ever again. His curiosity got the best of him, and he just couldn’t let the magical object burn. If Mr. White never takes it off the fire, their son never dies.
White save the monkey’s paw and keep it for himself and his family, but he asks the Sergeant-Major how to use it. Mr. White asks the soldier, “How do you do it?” (Pg. 9) Mr. White obviously does not believe that this paw would bring evil upon the user because he wants to know how to use it so he can make a wish. Although he salvaged it, he could have just kept it as a treasure without knowing how it works, but he has to know. Once Mr. White knows how to use the monkey’s paw to make a wish, it is obvious that he is eventually going to try it despite the warnings of the consequences. Again, if Mr. White never asks how to make the wishes, his son never