An Adventure In Paris Character Analysis

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The stories "An Adventure in Paris"(NASF. 493) by Guy De Maupassant and "Everyday Use"(NASF. 816) by Alice Walker showcase similar and different ways to present a story through point of view and characters. Both stories have characters that are functional and symbolic to the story. Each of these stories uses both a foil and utilitarian through one character, Dee and Jean Varin, that ultimately changes the protagonist for the better and allows them to see what they have. De Maupassant makes his story a mix of third-person story telling and first-person experience to expose the extremity of a woman's curiosity. Meanwhile, Walker only uses the first person narration, which gives us perspective into the protagonist’s mind. Although each of the …show more content…
The symbolism used in each story is an aspect that differs the stories. Guy De Maupassant makes the woman in his story as a symbol to represent female curiosity. De Maupassant chooses his protagonist especially to show how hard woman work and far they'll go to find what she's dreamt about, and how nothing can stop her. The woman embodies the female curiosity as she lies and schemes to find a way to her lifelong dream of the luxurious life of the highest social class. Meanwhile, Alice Walker made her protagonist, Mama, the symbol of the families ancestry since it's all known by her. Although you could think that the items in Mama's home embody their history eventually you see that it is Mama as Dee and Maggie, her daughters, would never know about the stories behind each of item without Mama to …show more content…
However, De Maupassant quickly changes this after explaining why the narrator is telling this woman's story, which is to expose the severity of woman's curiosity. Even though, a first-person narration would allow us to see into the characters mind, De Maupassant's story isn't about the woman's feelings but her actions and how far she was willing to go to see if she could achieve her dream. Meanwhile, Walker continues the first-person narration from Mama's perspective because it eventually allows the audience to see Mama's appreciation for her life, and her daughters. Although, one may wonder why the story wasn't from one of the daughters perspective it's because Mama is the character that ultimately changes by the events that Dee makes happen by pushing to have the families quilts. Moreover, while Walker's story quickly informs the audience of who the narrator is, De Maupassant's does not. De Maupassant leaves his audience curious about who the narrator of the story is because for his story you aren't meant to connect to the story but the idea behind it, which is to show how far women will go to explore their curiosity. On the other hand, Walker clearly uses Mama so that the audience feels as though they're connected and in the mind of the protagonist to see her view on her situation, focusing on her daughters. Moving on,

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