this post was submitted on 16 Mar 2024
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Could someone please explain the “he (the genie) would just give it to you” part?
This aside has me curious about motivations etc.
I think the joke is that he doesn't have to monkey's paw the wish at all to screw you over for wishing for it
Thanks.
my interpretation of it is: when you ask a genie for something they’ll give it to you, but with a nasty twist. e.g., if you ask for a lot of money they’ll say okay, then give you the money, and then tell you it’s all marked notes from a recent bank robbery or something.
but since this element is so stupid, there’s no twist necessary. the element itself is the nasty surprise.
And if I remember correctly, it's about asking a wish with precise, thoughtful phrasing, or it's going to backfire.
"Your wish is my command."
"I don't want to see my mother-in-law ever again."
Boom! Makes him blind.
maybe the whole thing started because a monkey asked for paws and they got a monkeys paw instead
Oh I see. I never associated monkey’s paw type twists with the genie tale. Perhaps I need to re-read the source myths.
Monkeys paw = you get what you asked for but it takes a nasty path to get there. Example from the OG story, the parents ask for money, then their son dies, and they get the insurance money.
Genie = chooses to ignore the spirit of the wish and gives you something that technically meets the criteria. Ex: you ask for a "hot chick", and get a boiling hot baby chicken.
You can try to work around the genie's trickery with more and more precise wording till there isn't any ambiguity. The monkey will fuck you over anyway, because fuck you, that's why.
99.99% of the comments on r/monkeyspaw are just granting wishes like they're genies and not like they're a monkey's paw, and it rubs me the wrong way.