The story “the neckless” written by French writer guy de Maupassant revolves around a poor lady Mrs. Loisel who is married to a clerk and has very high materialistic ambitions, things of expensive tastes always appeal her and she believes herself to be destined for all the great luxuries of this world (americanliterature.com). An invitation to the high- class party lead her to borrow a diamond necklace from her close friend which she loses it, unable to recover the necklace, they got in debt, for repaying the debt, they shifted to smaller flat, they fired their maid, they started living a life of lower means by doing odd jobs. After ten years of hard work they got successful in repaying the debt, one fine day, when she accidently meets Mrs. forestair the bitter truth came out shocking her that the necklace was the duplicate one. The main theme is the materialistic greed pushes an individual to the edge of distress from their self-fulfilled life.
The greed has no end except death, the argument coincides with the theme as greed causes dissatisfaction as human desires are never ending (omswami.com). The greed is portrayed through Mrs. Loisel never ending desires of living a luxurious life, every time she used to see her small flat and things in it, she used to dream of a luxurious version of it, her greed got more evidenced in the story when she insisted her husband to get her a beautiful dress for a party and then an exquisite necklace . (patheos.com). Her never ending desires could also be proved from the lines “She suffered constantly feeling herself to be destined for all the delicacies and luxuries. She suffered because of its grim apartment with its drab wall, threadbare furniture, ugly curtains”. Her greed always threw her into depression thereby increasing her agony day by day.
Comparison leads to self-doom; the argument goes along with the theme as all forms of comparisons stems from materialism. As it makes one forget to count his blessings, Mrs. Lionel always compared her life to those who were richer than her which was the cause of her dissatisfaction. When she used to sit with her husband for dinner on their old dining table, she used to dream of more lavished gourmet, she cannot stop comparing her each and every thing with the richer version of it (asmithblog.com). In one instance, when her husband tried convincing her to wear flower jewelry for the party she denied by saying “No, there is nothing humiliating than looking shabby in the company of rich women” .Due to her incessant comparison, she always remains depressed and unhappy which made her so weak to appreciate the blessings she already enjoys (theguardian.com).
Tragedy was a blessing in disguise, the argument coincides with the theme as tragedy in one’s life helps in introspecting one materialistic life to connect to the divinity. Every bad thing that happens has a goodness in it (theodeysseyonline). The struggle for ten years taught her the value of small things and joys of life, it had made her more humble, grateful and of strong character. The following lines from the story explains everything “what would life have been like if she would have not lost the necklace? who knows? Life is so peculiar, so uncertain how little a thing it takes to destroy you or save you”. The tragedy had indeed saved her, she started living life more peacefully than before, if this tragedy did not befall her, she would have never improved as a human being and would have lived all her life gazing the upscale society.
The world of shiny glitters deludes its residents that happiness lies in seeking materialistic pleasures, making them forget the importance of little things which are the cause of real happiness. Mrs. Lionel’s insatiable hunger of things brought her to nadir, if only she knew the importance of these temporary pleasures, she would have lived the much peaceful life. She was lucky enough to be the victim of this tragedy which taught her the real lessons of life.
Bibliography
americanliterature.com. “the necklace.” 1 june 2019. americanliterature.com. english. 29 june 2019. <https://americanliterature.com/author/guy-de-maupassant/short-story/the-necklace>.
asmithblog.com. “comparison is the death of joy.” 1 july 2019. asmithblog.com. english. 7 october 2017. <https://asmithblog.com/comparison-death-joy/>.
omswami.com. “the desire tree.” july1 2019. omswami.com. english. 1 july 2019. <http://omswami.com/2011/09/the-desire-tree.html>.
patheos.com. “is greed natural .” 1 june 2019. patheos.com. english. 28 june 2019. <https://www.patheos.com/blogs/companionsonthejourney/2016/08/is-greed-a-natural-fundamental-human-trait/>.
theguardian.com. “matrialism.” 9 december 2013. theguardian.com. 28 june 2019. <https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/dec/09/materialism-system-eats-us-from-inside-out>.
theodeysseyonline. “sometime tragedy turns out to be blessings.” 1 june 2016. theodeysseyonline.com. english. 1 july 2019. <https://www.theodysseyonline.com/sometimes-tragedies-turn-out-to-be-blessings-in-disguise>.
