One historical event that assisted in the development of these British racist attitudes towards the people of India and South Asia was the Indian revolt of 1857 and the official partition of India in 1947. The fear of the fall of the British Empire caused by the partition of India, racial supremacy and moral superiority and xenophobia. These attitudes are derived from three main concepts. Aspects of the social change of the time involved racist attitudes towards India and South Asia. This was a time for ingenuity, industrial revolution and social change. The end of the Victorian Era would represent a time in history where attitudes were shifting on a global scale. This era was marked by the end of Queen Victoria’s reign of the British Empire in 1901 and the beginning of the reign of King Edward the VII. The story The Monkey’s Paw was published in 1902 at the end of the Victorian era. This story is not just a representation of Jacobs's talent as a writer but is also an illustration of the social attitudes of the time. White opens the door and no one is there just the sound of the cold wind blowing past their home (Jacobs). As he makes his wish the knocking at the door suddenly stops. White, worried about what terrible repercussions could come from this wish, grabs the monkey’s paw to make his final wish. The mother, believing it to be Herbert, rushes to unlock the door to let her son in but the lock is too high. Later that night they hear a knock on the door. Days after this devastating news the mother comes up with the idea to wish on the monkey’s paw again for her son to come back from the dead. White’s home to tell him that his son was killed by a machine at work and although the company was not responsible for the accident the family was awarded £200. White’s wish comes true at the demise of his son. White believes it to be a reasonable wish so he does. Herbert suggests that his father wishes for £200 to pay off the mortgage. White does not know what to wish for and exclaims that he has everything he could desire. The Sargent leaves and Herbert persuades his father to make a wish. White quickly retrieves it from the fire. He adds that along with the paws magic comes tragic consequences and then proceeds to throw the paw on the fire. Sergeant-Major Morris tells the family that the paw had a spell placed on it by a fakir and the paw possesses the power to grant three wishes. The Sergeant received the monkey’s paw while he was serving in India over the past twenty-one years. White, Sergeant-Major Morris, comes by the house and shows the family a monkey paw. White and his family live in the London countryside hours away from the nearest town. Please enable Javascript and reload the page. This site requires Javascript to be turned on.
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