The Jewelry Maupassant Analysis

While reading “The Jewelry,” I found it to be an interpretive style of fiction. Maupassant’s primary goal is not only to entertain the readers, but to engage the readers mind into finding the deeper and hidden message that lies within the story. During the beginning of “The Jewelry,” I thought I knew what the outcome would be, however that was not the case. The plot took a completely different turn than I had expected it to. Maupassant used a lot of irony throughout the story, which hid the actual message of it pretty well. By the time you reach the end, you start to realize what he was actually trying to convey. He doesn’t directly state the theme or the moral of the story, but you pick up on it by deciphering the figurative language that …show more content…
You don’t think much is really happening until you reach the climax of the story. From the way the story starts out, we would have inferred that M. Lantin and his wife would have a long happy marriage. However once we reach the climax, we figure out that their marriage was a sham the entire time. She had been receiving the very valuable jewelry from someone who she was having an affair with. The plot of this story can be seen as realistic and serious, which helps verify that it is interpretive rather than escapist fiction. Also, struggles within the characters in “The Jewelry” aren’t out of the ordinary, but they are actual real life problems that people deal with in the real world. With that being said, the plot is focused on the internal issues more than the external ones. M. Lantin began searching for a wealthy and faithful woman to marry after his wife died, because he believed that both of those characteristics within a woman would make him happier than he was before. Meanwhile, once he found the lady he had been looking for, he ended up miserable instead of happy like he intended …show more content…
Maupassant does not give his readers a direct theme, instead he makes it harder for us to figure out what the moral of the story actually is. Depending on what the reader got out of the story, they can end up with a completely different theme than what another person may end up with. For instance, one reader may infer that it may be “what you don’t know won’t hurt you,” since M. Lantin was happier in a marriage where he didn’t know the truth. While on the other hand, someone else may suggest that it is “money is not the key to happiness,” because he found even more wealth but still ended up miserable. Considering that Maupassant does not give the theme directly to us, either one of those options could be correct. The figurative language used within the story is also a sign of it being interpretive. Irony is used all throughout “The Jewelry,” making the story easier for interpretation. Irony helps readers analyze the theme of the story by making it more