"The Necklace" by Guy de Maupassant

"The Necklace" by Guy de Maupassant is a incredible story about the negative impact of one's pride and selfishness. The story is written in third person omniscient point of view, as the narrator gives us a glimpse into Monsieur Loisel's thoughts not just Mathilde's. For me Monsieur Loisel is the hero in the this story because he tries so hard to make his wife happy within his means. He is excited to show Mathilde the invitation to the Minister of Education's ball, but he is puzzled when she is angry with him for getting the invitation. He is heartbroken when Mathilde cries because she doesn't have a dress for the party, so he gives up the money he has been saving for a gun. A gun that he probably would have used long after the party had come and gone. He continually tries to make Mathilde happy. When Mathilde loses the necklace she borrowed from Jeanne, Loisel looks for the necklace for hours while Mathilde stays at home. He replaces the necklace, but in order to do that he must use all of his money (18000 francs) and borrow the rest (another 18000 francs), some of the money he had to borrowed was from people who charged extremely high interest rates. He has to work very hard to pay off the necklace that Mathilde had to have for one night.

Mathilde on the other hand, is a self centered woman who lets her pride not only ruin her but her husband as well. When Mathilde "from the very first she played her part heroically" and she works along side her husband to pay the debt, you get the impression that she has grown as a person. That is until she encounters her friend Jeanne in the park, she tells Jeanne "Yes, I've had some hard times since I saw you last; and many sorrows...and all on your account". Just when you think the character has grown she turns around and blames her friend for her misfortune. What if her pride hadn't gotten in the way and she wore flowers that night like her husband suggested? Or if she waited for him to hail a cab, instead of hurrying him out into the street because she did not want to be seen in her usual outer garments? Or lastly, if she had just gone to Jeanne and explain the clasp on the necklace broke, and she lost the necklace. If she had simply gone to Jeanne she would have been able to replace the necklace for five hundred francs not 36,000 francs, she would have saved her husband and herself so much anguish.

The irony of this story is that Mathilde wanted so much more, and because she did not want to appear poor for one night she pushed them into further poverty for the next ten years.