The Monkeys paw

Question

Do the characters in "The Monkey's Paw" have free will, or are their lives being controlled by fate? Write one paragraph to prove your claim and one counterclaim paragraph to prove your claim.

Answer 1

They don't have free will

There's no way that the characters have free will. Given their circumstances, this family would be willing to play the game of chance because they have "nothing to lose." Accordingly, they are inevitably drawn into a decision that will tragically transform their lives. Thinking that this is somehow free will is like imagining that you have a lottery ticket and are unwilling to cash it in.

They have free will

Of course they have free will. While one can understand the temptation to want something for nothing, one also understands that "something for nothing" is never entirely what it seems. All one has to do is look at the track record of lottery winners, and it's easy to find that information, to know that the lives of those winners are many times worse than before they won that money.