When contemplating whether a work of literature is worth reading, most readers look at the back cover of the book to read a short summary. Some critics look for tone and interesting plot twists, but the common reader looks for a purpose or lesson. Sure, powerful words and phrases contribute, but without the anticipation that one will gain knowledge from the story, it will be put right back on the bookshelf. Long novels with a back cover have hundreds of pages to reveal themes. However, short stories do not have nearly as much time to display a theme. In Guy de Maupassant’s The Jewelry, the main character, Lantin sees and experiences change through his life after his wife passes away. In Flannery O’Connor’s A Good Man is Hard to find, the grandmother’s actions cost an entire family’s life. Both stories contains a similar theme but in different ways. Despite their short time frames, Maupassant and O’Connor both reveal a similar didactic medium- nobody is perfect. Maupassant’s short story begins with a description of a young girl who represents the perfect woman. Her gentle nature and manners attracted all of the men in the story. However, in The Jewelry , he states that “...she got into the habit of suspending in her pretty ears two big cut pebbles, fashioned in imitation of diamonds... ” (Maupassant 52). When first reading this, one would not find these as faults but instead assume that the woman is down to earth for taking such pride in false jewelry. However, when she
Guy de Maupassant and Chinua Achebe show their opinions on materialism through the thoughts of their characters in their stories. In “The Necklace”, Mathilde, an avaricious and narcissistic character, believes she possesses “...no dowry, no hopes, not the slightest chance of being appreciated, understood, loved, and married by a rich and distinguished man” (de Maupassant 373). The author, Guy de Maupassant, mocks Mathilde’s attitude towards her life, claiming “...She suffered constantly, feeling that all the attributes of a gracious life, every luxury, should rightly have been hers” (de Maupassant 373). By showing Mathilde’s thoughts, the author shows how materialism can cause someone to unappreciate the life that they have, even when it is exceptional compared to
In Guy de Maupassant's "The Necklace" is the story of Mathilde Loisel, who resents her "station" in life. Mathilde Loisel is shown to be a vain and ungrateful person who believes that she was born to have a better life. She feels that she has married beneath her, in spite of the fact that her husband is a hard working and dependable man. Mathilde is unable to recognize and appreciate the
Guy De Maupassant is recognized as one of the finest writers of the modern short story. Maupassant’s literary career began in 1880 in France. He was a marvelous writer of short stories which were based upon the aspects of the French Society, frequently touching sensitive subjects such as social and moral principles. The beauty of Maupassant’s stories is the unpredictability of them, quite identical to life, where things do not always turn up the way one may expect. The short story, Jewelry by Guy De Maupassant is an insightful piece, with a compelling theme of appearance versus reality and that the life is full of irony.
To truly understand a great novel and its author, the reader must dig deep inside the life
Now consider the role of Mathilde Loisel in “The Necklace”. She constantly grieves about her simple life and fantasizes about extravagant life style with rich people and food surrounding her. Her husband is a simple man and is satisfied with his life. He appreciates her for the food which is cooked and never complains. Being in the Ministry of Education their lifestyle is modest. Mathilde is not satisfied on the other hand even when her husband proudly announces that they have been invited at a formal party held by the Ministry of Education. The irony in the story is more or less the same with regard to the female characters. Mathilde cries and gets her prize in the form of a dress but she is never satisfied. She wants jewelry as well. The necklace that she borrows from Madame Forestier teaches her a lesson of life. Since she is not familiar with the real jewelry she picks the cheapest one from her collection and wears it to the party why she loses it. Upon not finding the jewelry her husband takes the pain of selling everything out just to purchase an identical necklace worth 40,000 francs which leaves them poverty stricken for the next ten years during which her husband does three jobs and
The world is a massive place full of endless literature, beginning from ancient scrolls to daily news articles, filled with many secrets, perspectives and surroundings that help connect literature to an individual’s daily life. Some writers use the skills of literary elements to express and discuss an event that has happened to them or what has happened to others. This helps others to comprehend the perspectives of the author’s understanding toward an incident that one might experience. For instance in Flannery O’Connor’s short story, she uses many literary elements to express her views over most of her stories. O’Connor expresses her views in her short story, “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” by using the literary elements of point of view, irony, and setting.
Kelly J. Mayes defines plot in The Norton Introduction to Literature as the way the author sequences and paces the events so as to shape our response and interpretation. Every piece of literature contains a plot pattern that follows Freytag’s pyramid. This pyramid consists of an exposition, rising action, a climax, falling action, and a conclusion. Though each story displays this pattern of organization, authors use many different literary devices to differentiate their work and to acquire the response they want to achieve from their audience. The author of “The Jewelry,” Guy De Maupassant, correctly followed Freytag’s Pyramid and used varied literary devices to create a suspenseful read for the audience.
During this time period, women’s role in society was that of a submissive, powerless position. They often relied solely on their husband for direction, allowing the husband to make decisions and take lead no matter what. In the story of The Necklace, Maupassant illustrates these
One can also only speculate that how Madame Lantin’s insatiable craving for jewels, that her husband cannot afford, is motivated by the socioeconomic condition of the world in which she moves. When Maupassant explains that Madame Lantin is extremely reluctant at first to go out in the evenings without her husband to escort her, he gives the reader one of the only clues about her possible feelings as she makes the transformation from a dutiful and virtuous wife into a woman who is extravagantly showered with expensive gems by other men. (Constantakis 1)
As the era of literature slowly declines, the expert critiques and praise for literature are lost. Previously, novels were bursting at the seams with metaphors, symbolism, and themes. In current times, “novels” are simply short stories that have been elaborated on with basic plot elements that attempt to make the story more interesting. Instead of having expert critical analysis written about them, they will, most likely, never see that, as recent novels have nothing to analyze. Even books are beginning to collect dust, hidden away and forgotten, attributing to the rise of companies such as Spark Notes. An author deserves to have his work praised, no matter how meager and the masses should have the right to embrace it or to reject it. As
Monsieur Lantin, of Guy De Maupassant’s, “The Jewelry” is a man married to a woman who he became infatuated with over the influence of others, resulting in their marriage, and her eventual untimely death; shortly after her death it is revealed that she lived a mysterious life with her not-so-fake jewels. Madam Lantin’s character is revealed from the perspective of her husband, by way of Maupassant using third person point of view, consequently making her a flat character. Monsieur relies upon his wife to conserve his ever so quaint lifestyle. Monsieur is that of a dynamic individual, in the sense that he has the ability to adapt to life by a swayed decision making method, usually resulting in their misplaced value in his happiness. Based on the context in this short story, it is safe to say that Monsieur takes life at face value, is critical of two of his wife’s habits, and eventually becomes overwhelmed with skepticism concerning his emotional and financial life.
Guy De Maupassant was born August 5, 1850, in Château de Miromesnil, France (The Famous People, Guy de Maupassant), when he was young his parents got divorced and after that, his father left, denying him a chance to develop a relationship with his son. He started school with a religious education but, after getting expelled on purpose he pursued a bachelor 's degree at Lycée at Le Havre (World History: The Modern Era, Guy de Maupassant). One of his most well known stories is The Necklace. In this story the main character Mme. Loisel has always wished that she had a better life, but she didn’t so she settled for the best that she could, which was a clerk in the Department of Education. One day her husband receives an invitation to a party
In “The Necklace”, Guy de Maupassaut uses the irony with the necklace to criticize Madame Loisel’s need to make a false impression and her equally false desires. Madame Loisel shows her desire for everything throughout this short story. Guy de Maupassant uses an angry tone showing the reader he disapproves of Madame Loisel actions and need for attention. In the beginning of this short story, Guy describes Madame Loisel as “one of those pretty and charming girls born” (CITATION). Guy de Maupassant immediately lets the reader know Madame Loisel is incredibly beautiful. Her husband even says “Why the dress you go to theatre in. It looks very nice to me” (CITATION), yet Madame Loisel does not care. Madame Loisel needs to make a false impression
Although portrayed as superficial, vain, and greedy through desirable materials, such as jewels and dresses, the female in “The Necklace” has less dependence on a male to shape her self-identity. The depiction of women in this text is far from common female stereotypes: They are portrayed as articulate and disobedient to men through their explicit behaviours. For instance, Mme. Loisel, who is invited to the party, reveals her emotions about her lack of luxurious items clearly by “throw[ing] the invitation on the table with annoyance” (Maupassant, 1). This motion is more expressive than any descriptions for her anger and frustration that blames her social status and circumstance. Also, her facial expressions such as “look[ing] at him with an
Henri René Albert Guy de Maupassant is a French writer recognized as one of the finest writers of modern short stories. Through the span of career, which lasted nearly ten years, Maupassant wrote three hundred short stories, six novels and contributed in considerable amounts literary work. Maupassant’s works are vastly admired for his realist and ironic approach to writing. Among all his work, “Boule De Suif” and “Jewelry” stands out as most preeminent due to its depiction of human nature and unexpected outcome.