Have you ever come to realize how good something was once it was too late to truly appreciate it? Well that’s exactly what happens to Mathilde Loisel in the short story, “The Necklace”, by Guy de Maupassant. Madame Loisel didn’t have it all, but she lived a good life that most would wish for. Though, she took it all for granted and ended up losing it all because of one counterfeit diamond necklace. Throughout her struggles brought by the fake piece of jewelry, she endures physical, moral, and emotional conflicts that would later help her to finally be grateful in what she does have. These moments being captured beautifully by the author using satire to capture his reader in the moment in a way they could all relate, and come to realize that
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Maupassant teaches the reader a valuable lesson of being thankful for what one has, and always keeping in mind that it could be worse. We are introduced to this girl who is neither wealthy nor in poverty, but dreams to be in a much higher social status than she currently is in. She believes that she was “born to enjoy all delicacies and all luxuries” (Maupassant, 1). Because of this, she spends her day moping and wishing for a better life. As if being taught a lesson, she is able to get all she wants for a single night, but with a great expense. Mathilde loses her friend’s diamond necklace. In a great panic, her and her husband do all they can do to replace the necklace. Her husband “gave notes, took up ruinous obligations, dealt with usurers and all the race of lenders” (Maupassant,4). After much suffering, an in a much lower economic and social state than they were previously, they were able to pay off all their debts. The great irony comes at the very end of the story, with the very last line. Even with all the physical and mental anguish the couple went through, it is only after their ten years of suffering that it is revealed that the original borrowed necklace was fake. Her friend, Madame Forestier, tells Mathilde that “It was worth at most only five hundred francs” (Maupassant, 5). This is when the reader realized that all the hardships they faced, everything that they endured, was for a necklace that wasn’t even real to begin with. It teaches the reader that they should be happy with what they have in life, for desiring more could leave you with much
Maupassant teaches the reader a valuable lesson of being thankful for what one has, and always keeping in mind that it could be worse. We are introduced to this girl who is neither wealthy nor in poverty, but dreams to be in a much higher social status than she currently is in. She believes that she was “born to enjoy all delicacies and all luxuries” (Maupassant, 1). Because of this, she spends her day moping and wishing for a better life. As if being taught a lesson, she is able to get all she wants for a single night, but with a great expense. Mathilde loses her friend’s diamond necklace. In a great panic, her and her husband do all they can do to replace the necklace. Her husband “gave notes, took up ruinous obligations, dealt with usurers and all the race of lenders” (Maupassant,4). After much suffering, an in a much lower economic and social state than they were previously, they were able to pay off all their debts. The great irony comes at the very end of the story, with the very last line. Even with all the physical and mental anguish the couple went through, it is only after their ten years of suffering that it is revealed that the original borrowed necklace was fake. Her friend, Madame Forestier, tells Mathilde that “It was worth at most only five hundred francs” (Maupassant, 5). This is when the reader realized that all the hardships they faced, everything that they endured, was for a necklace that wasn’t even real to begin with. It teaches the reader that they should be happy with what they have in life, for desiring more could leave you with much