Shortly after Sergeant Major Morris arrives at the White residence, Mr. White asks him about the magic monkey’s paw he had been previously been telling him about. Sergeant Major Morris reluctantly tells the story of how he acquired the magic monkey’s paw, which was given special powers by an old fakir, who wanted to use the paw as a way to prove that fate ruled people’s lives. According to Morris, the fakir put a spell on the monkey’s paw that granted its three owners any three wishes. Morris does not elaborate on the first owner’s initial two wishes but tells the White family that his third wish was for death. Morris’s story regarding the first owner’s final wish is ominous and foreshadows the disastrous consequences of wishing upon the monkey’s paw.

Morris then mentions that he is not sure if he would want to wish upon the monkey’s paw three more times and suddenly throws it into the fire. Tragically, Mr. White retrieves the monkey’s paw and wishes for two hundred pounds to pay off the mortgage, which results in Herbert’s death.