“the Necklace” by Guy De Maupassant

“The Necklace”

Most people know the age-old proverb that says, “Money does not buy happiness.” It has been said and displayed in thousands of different ways over the course of time, but for some odd reason, mankind still cannot grasp onto those words of truth. Many people are overtaken by the combination of obsession with wealth and the fear of mediocrity in life, which, inevitably, leads to a realization that true happiness in life consists of more than what money could ever buy. These realizations are sometimes painful, as seen in the story “The Necklace” by Guy de Maupassant.

Born a commoner, Mathilde Loisel had always dreamt of a life in the high society. As it was, she never seemed to be able to reach that plateau. Money has always had the power to separate every day people into classes. A person will be considered higher in class if he has more money than someone else, even if the other person had worked hard for what little he did have and the upper class man had inherited it; it makes no difference. In Mme. Loisel’s case, she was born poor and lived poor, but she always had a mindset of being something more. She was not ambitious but rather wishful. As many in society today, she thought she was owed more than what she was handed in life but was not quite willing to put effort into it, and the best things in life are the things that take effort and sacrifice. Mme. Loisel was not willing to strive for the superior life she dreamed of.

Despite the fact that Mme. Loisel was not of upper class, in her mind she wanted to be and was. This mind state resulted in an atmosphere of pride for her, she saw herself as better and deserving a better life. As said to be one of the deadly sins, pride can cause someone to act foolish and put themselves into situations that could have totally been avoided with just a mere attitude of humility. There are certain levels of pride and most of mankind holds a piece of pride in them, sometimes minimal and sometimes of great proportions. In Mme. Loisel’s case, she held with her a level of pride greater than the common man. She wished to hide her position in life instead of accepting it and respecting who she was already. “He threw over her shoulders the wraps which he had brought, modest wraps of common life, whose poverty contrasted with the elegance of the ball dress. She felt this, and wanted to escape so as not to be remarked by the other women, who were enveloping themselves in costly furs.” Arrogance leads to ignorance. Had Mme. Loisel not been so embarrassed