The Selfishness in The Necklace Essay Example
The Selfishness in The Necklace Essay Example

The Selfishness in The Necklace Essay Example

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  • Pages: 3 (704 words)
  • Published: January 8, 2017
  • Type: Analysis
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In the story “The Necklace”, by Guy de Maupassant, all the characters are the same, they present the same behavior by showing that they think only of themselves rather than of others. When we take a close look to the story, especially to the main character, Ms. Loisel, we reveal that she does not only suffer because of her cheap belongings, and wanting expensive things, but she dreams of wealth and how her friends would envy her if she could display finery.

By looking at the behavior of the character in ”The Necklace”we see more than a story about a spoiled selfish woman, we see that is a story about a whole society, with selfish people thinking only of their own importance. Ms. Loisel is very selfish throughout the stor

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y. She shows her selfishness when she wants to be rich and to live in a nice house. She also shows her selfishness when she wants to wear expensive clothing and jewelry to the party. Ms. Loisel is very selfish because she wants these things only for herself. Ms.

Loisel is not a poor woman, she is a middle class, she has the basic necessities for her to live a good life, but she wants more than just that. Everything she wants is the wealth and good social status that she does not and cannot have. She feels depressed every time she thinks about wealth or visits Ms. Forrestier, her “rich friend, a comrade from convent days, whom she did not want to see anymore because she suffered so much when she returned home. ” Ms. Loisel also reveals her selfishness when

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her husband brings the invitation to the ball and she makes him to buy her a new dress for the party.

This is selfish because she said that doesn’t have anything new to wear, and she would rather not go to the party. Her husband bought her a new dress, but she still doesn’t want to go to the party. She said that she does not have any jewelry to wear with her new dress. When they are to the party she also shows her selfishness. She goes to the party with the necklace she borrowed from Ms. Forrestier and she has a great time dancing “until four o’clock in the morning”while her husband was with other men in another room asleep.

While leaving the party she shows more selfishness. She leaves in a rush because she doesn’t want the other women to see her shawl. This is selfish because she is ashamed of her garments that she wears in her everyday life. When they returned from the party she realizes that she had lost the necklace. Her husband goes off to try if he can find it, but it was without any luck. They buy another necklace exactly like the one she lost and it cost them thirty six thousand francs. For ten years they worked hard just to pay for the necklace.

After ten years when Ms. Loisel was relaxing at the park she sees Ms. Forrestier and she confesses everything to her. Ms. Forrestier after hearing the confession, she shocks Ms. Loisel with the news that the necklace she lost was just “costume jewelry. At most, it was worth

only five hundred francs. ”If Mathilde had not been so selfish and wanted so much that she did not have, she would have never lost the necklace, which caused her to waste ten years of her life paying it off. Of course, I could overstate the selfishness of Ms. Loisel.

After ten years Ms Loisel learns her lesson. She was suffering for paying their debts. She accepts a cheap attic flat, and does all the heavy housework herself to save on domestic help. So she learns how to work hard and to be proud of what you can earn from that hard work. From Ms. Loisel’s mistakes we can learn that life isn’t so easy and we have to be thankful of what we have. In conclusion, Guy de Maupassant in his story “The Necklace”, does not only tells the story of a spoiled selfish woman, it tells the story of a whole society.

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