Guy de Maupassant’s story ‘the necklace’ is an interesting story. The narrative starts with a description of Madame Mathilde Loisel. De Maupassant depicts Mathilde as a ‘pretty and charming’ person. However, she desired a life of leisure, a lifestyle where she would have many servants and a large house yet her life was modest. The twists and the astounding end enable the reader to better understand the earlier hypothesis of the story. The proposition tries to depict how ‘strange and changeful’ life could be. The writer has incorporated a rounded quality, an excellent plot, unrivaled social observations and comprehensive information makes the story more captivating. De Maupassant uses character, symbolism, and irony to show that greed can end in tragedy. While introducing the story, Maupassant presents minimal information regarding the most significant characters, an aspect which enhances the plot of the story.
In reference to character, Mathilde Loisel’s gluttony makes her assume that objects can transform her life. She desires what she does not have yet other people have. The character of desire coupled with the perception that objects can change life lead Mathilde to her downfall when she borrows the necklace and misplaces it. Consequently, Mathilde’s perception of wealth is that the rich are comfortable and idle. She only laments as evidenced by her saying ‘it annoys me not to have a jewel.’ Mathilde further states that she would ‘look like distress’ if she went to the party without a jewel. As such, her state of affairs and such weakness becomes her source of most of her troubles.
At the party, Mathilde fulfills her dream of appearing wealthy and beautiful. However, after the party reality downs on her and she is reduced to coping with hard life in a bid to replace the necklace. The difficulties that she goes through make her lose her dream of elegance. With regard to the fore mentioned, the disparity between Mrs Loisel’s ambition and actuality cause her economic and emotional difficulty and at last she changes courtesy of her mistakes. De Maupassant therefore tries to show how the aspects of aspiration, pride and dishonesty can alter the fortune of a person forever.
Irony
With regard to irony, Maupassant makes a surprising ending of the story by the fact that Loisels spent many years paying for what was otherwise a worthless necklace. She was now with frowsy hair, red hands and skirts askew.’ Further irony is that her only valued asset which is her beauty disappears as a consequence of her labor in a bid to replace the necklace. On the onset she had borrowed the necklace in order to enhance her beauty yet she ends up losing her beauty as well. Subsequently, the greatest irony is seen when the grueling life that she finds herself after the loss of the necklace. Such state of affairs makes her earlier life appear luxurious. The fact that she borrows Madame Forestier’s necklace in order to appear wealthier than she actually is only to end up losing even the little she has. She became ‘a woman of impoverished households’.
The fore mentioned is apparent in the reality that Mathilde ends up paying with money and her looks for a worthless necklace. The end reveals that actually the ten years of suffering could have been evaded had Mathilde been sincere with Madame Forestier. From the story the mistake was really not the loss of the necklace but rather the dishonesty act of Mathilde.
Symbolism
Symbolism on the other hand is evidenced by ‘the necklace.’ The item depicted as attractive but worthless. The reality dawns on Mathilde when at the end she learns that the ‘necklace was paste.’ The necklace therefore represents how influential perception can be. The piece brings out the difference between reality and appearance. Mathilde borrows the necklace in order to appear wealthier than she in fact is. The reason is because she is envious of Madame Forestier and believes that the later is wealthy. The Madame does not inform Mathilde from the onset that the necklace is not genuine. That can be construed to mean that the Madame also wanted Mathilde to perceive her as well off that she really is. Mathilde’s rich perception of Forestier makes her not to suspect the legitimacy of the necklace.
Further, since Mathilde expects that the necklace is made of diamonds; diamonds in this pretext symbolize wealth. The perceived genuine diamonds enable Mathilde to communicate a wealthy appearance to her peers. She therefore considers herself rich albeit for a short time.
Conclusion
Mathilde may not have deserved the life that she got but her lack of ethical determination is the source of her emotional problems. The turnaround meaning technique employed by Maupassant at the end of the story makes it more fascinating. The fallacy of appearances as depicted by the writer on the illusory lifestyle of Mathilde and the deceiving nature of the necklace clearly bring out the plot of the story which basically is the split between myth and authenticity. Lastly, De Maupassant creates the character of Mathilde to suit the common saying that money is the route of all evil. In the end the writer does not take a strong opinion of the on the fate of the characters he however provides the information. The reader is then left to judge the characters and to interpret and judge. For instance, depending on the understanding of reader one may make a decision whether Mathilde is a casualty of bad luck or a victim of misjudged self observation of the public where success or otherwise stem from acknowledgment of wealth.
Work cited
Maupassant, Guy. The Necklace. Pelham, New York. Benchmark Education Company, 2007
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