Question

Use context to determine the meaning of the word fakirs as it is used in paragraph 18 “The Monkey’s Paw.” The singular form is used in paragraph 26. Write your definition of fakirs here and explain how you figured it out. How can you check the word’s precise meaning as well as its pronunciation?

Answer 1

Fakir= A holy man from India who can do miraculous things.

From my definition I know that a holy person put a spell on the monkey’s paw to teach humanity a lesson. In the text Mr. White says that he wants to go to India "to see those old temples and fakirs and jugglers." From this I can infer that the Fakirs are people from India. Sergeant Major says that “a very holy man” put a spell on the monkey’s paw. This means that fakirs are holy people from India. To check my definition and understanding I can check a dictionary or obviously google it up!!!

Answer 2

Answer:

Ok, there are a few elements to take from and define a concept to “fakirs” but first let’s say that by adding an “s” I am already assuming it’s the plural form of a class of individual.

Explanation:

Then I go to the facts, in the text it is mentioned that an old fair laid some sort of spell to someone else. In this case, I would like to believe that whether Fakir is some kind of mage or wizard. However, the thing goes beyond that, because there is another part in the text that says that fakirs can be found new the temples and the street entertainers, so they might have some mystic and religious related influence. But then, the author states a story of a very holy man who landed a spell into a group of individuals because he wanted to teach them that life is defined by fate and that in order to achieve that he granted them 3 wishes. Therefore, Fakirs are not wizards or mages, but man related to wisdom and temples. Therefore, they could be considered Holy men, but he confirms it by calling them like that, but he doesn't says they are part of any cult or anything. So religious/ holy- man applies to them.