Read the excerpt below from the short story “the raft” by peter orner and answer the question that follows. my grandfather, who lost his short-term memory sometime during the first eisenhower administration, calls me into his study because he wants to tell me the story he’s never told anybody before again. . my grandfather slams the door and motions me to the chair in front of his desk. i’ll be thirteen in two weeks. “there’s something i want to tell you, son,” he says. “something i’ve never told anybody. you think you’re ready? you think you’ve got the gumption? ” “i think so.” “think so? ” “i know so, sir. i know i’ve got the gumption.” . . “it was late,” he says. “someone knocked on my stateroom door. i leaped up. in those days i slept in uniform—shoes, too.” my grandfather smiles. his face is so perfectly round that his smile looks like a gash in a basketball. i smile back. “don’t smile,” he says. “just because i’m smiling, don’t assume i couldn’t kill you right now. know that about a man.” source: orner, peter. “the raft.” the atlantic online. the atlantic monthly company, apr. 2000. web. 10 may 2011. which point of view does the text use? third-person limited third-person omniscient second-person first-person

- "the die is cast; i have consented to return if we are not destroyed. thus are my hopes blasted by cowardice and indecision; i come back ignorant and disappointed. it requires more philosophy than i possess to bear this injustice with patience. i have lost my hopes of utility and glory; i have lost my friend."

"the monkey's paw" is a rare story in that the theme is actually stated in the story. sgt. maj. morris tells the whites that the old fakir who put the spell on the paw said, "fate rules people's lives and those who interfere with fate do so to their sorrow." the message is a warning, but mr. white doesn't believe it. even though sgt. maj. morris makes it clear that he tried wishing with unfortunate results and he tries to throw the paw on the fire,   mr. white makes a wish for 200 pounds only to find that he receives the money when herbert dies in a factory accident. according to the fakir, then, because mr. white had wished for something he should not have had, his son lost his life.

the second wish that mrs. white encourages him to make is for herbert's return--one week after his death. when the strange knocking begins at the door during the windy night, mr. white panicks, believing that the previously dead but still mangled herbert could have walked home from the cemetary and is now at the door. because he fears what his wife will find if she opens the door, mr. white makes his third wish--for the noise to stop.

therefore, he uses his three wishes and to his sorrow, loses his son and disappoints his wife, who fervently believed that their son was at the door. she wanted him back, regardless of his condition.

explanation: