The Monkey's Paw is rather a scary story over a 100 years old, which talks about not being able to escape fate and that every wish carries a cost.The story involves Mr. and Mrs. White and their adult son Herbert. Sergeant-Major Morris, a friend of the Whites who has been part of the British Army in India, leaves them with the monkey's paw, telling of its mysterious powers to grant three wishes, and of its journey from an old fakir to his comrade, who used his third and final wish to wish for death.
Mr. White wishes for £200. Their son is killed by machinery at his company, and they get compensation of £200.Sad compensation, indeed.
Apparently monkeys are trapped in South East Asia, buy inducing the animal to dip its paw into a bottle of peanuts. The greedy monkey clutches at the nuts and is sadly unable to get its paw out of the bottle. It does not have the intelligence to let go and run, either.As panic sets in, fear clouds its judgment and its freedom is lost, as the hunter picks it off the anchored bottle.
How like humans? We are trapped in a vicious materialistic spiral and have little inclination of letting go, to move on to better things in life. In management parlance it is called 'Escalation of Commitment', where precious resources chase useless pursuits, as people and organizations refuse to let go and move on!
