Part II of "The Monkey's Paw" takes place the day after Mr. Whites makes his first wish, two hundred pounds to clear the mortgage. The mood of that day is light and playful, as the family sits at the breakfast table, joking and laughing, before Herbert sets off to work. However, by dinnertime, the mood has turned dark and tragic.
Situational irony is when the opposite of what you expect happens. The situational irony found at the end of Part II is that the two hundred pounds, something positive, came as a result of Herbert's horrific death, something negative. Additionally, earlier, Mr. White had mentioned that Sergeant Major Morris said it would happen naturally and would seem to be a coincidence, but there was nothing "natural" about Herbert falling into a machine and becoming unrecognizable. More ironic still is the fact that the money will have to go towards Herbert's funeral expenses. With the realization of the paw's sinister power, Mr. White drops "a senseless heap, to the floor."
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