To what extent is it worth to manipulate someone in order to satisfy one’s own desire? This is what we find out through the characters in Guy de Maupassant’s “The Necklace” which shows us the main character’s unhappiness to be born in a family of clerks and who feels she is entitled to be wealthy, and “A Good Man is Hard to Find” by Flannery O'Connor where the main character, just described as “the grandmother”, tries to persuade her son not to go on a family trip to Florida so that she can visit some acquaintances she has in Tennessee. The characters reasons for being so manipulative are clearly very different in both stories, but they both show us what one is capable of to fulfill his or her wishes. Through a comparison of Mathilde …show more content…
In order to convince her son, she tells him about a criminal, The Mistif, who is very dangerous, gets loose, and heads toward Florida (O’Connor 1). The family ends up heading to Florida, and during the trip the grandmother remembers about a plantation nearby. She manipulates the kids in order for them to convince their father to deviate and stop by that plantation because “she knew that Bailey would not be willing to lose any time looking at an old house” (O’Connor 45). To make the kids want to see that house by the plantation she tells them “there was a secret panel in [that] house” but she “[was] not telling the truth but wishing that she were” (O’Connor 45). Beiley ends up being convinced by the kids. On their way to the plantation they suffer a car accident and are helped by “The Mistif” himself. Afraid, the grandmother again tries to use her manipulative “power” by trying to convince the criminal that he is “"a good man” (O’Connor 98) and that If he “would pray, Jesus would help [him]."(O’Connor 118). The grandmother nowhere in the story seemed to be religious and she only used “Jesus” as a way to get away from that tense situation and make the criminal not want to kill her family. In the end, all her manipulation is of no use because The Mistif not only kills her entire family but also shoots her three …show more content…
She is described as a girl that belongs to the middle-class and really wants to be rich and dreams about “Oriental carpets”, “candlesticks of bronze”,“great arm-chairs”, a “beautiful cabinet holding priceless curios” (Maupassant 2). When she finally has a chance to be among those riches after being invited to a beautiful ball thrown by her husband’s boss, the minister of public instruction, she throws a fit so that she can convince her husband that she has nothing to wear (Maupassant 10). To accomplish what she wants she cries and has “Two big tears [rolling] down from the corners of her eyes to the corners of her mouth” (Maupassant 11). Her husband is finally touched and convinced and sets four hundred francs aside to buy her a dress. When the day of the ball comes close and Mathilde realizes that she does not have “ a single ornament of any kind to put on” (Maupassant 20), she borrows a diamond necklace from a friend of hers after she “poured out her woes” (Maupassant 24), certainly touching her friend’s heart so that she would not refuse to lend her the jewel. It ends up that Mathilde loses the necklace at the end of the ball, works all her life to pay for a replacement, not realizing that she lost all the good years of her life working to pay for a necklace that is “paste” and that “was worth only about five hundred francs!” (Maupassant
To start off with, Mathilde had many conflicts she had to face during the story. First, she was poor and low in the social class. In the textbook it says, “she dressed plainly because she could not afford fine clothes.” She does not have money to buy new clothes because she is poor. Secondly, she got invited to the ball but had no evening clothes. “Only I don’t have an evening dress and therefore I can’t go to the affair.” Mathilde is poor and does not own an evening dress and can’t afford a dress she thinks she can’t go to the ball. Next, she has no jewelry to wear. . “It’s embarrassing not to have a jewel or gem-nothing to wear on my dress. I’ll look pauper.” She has no jewels or gems to go with her dress. Finally, she overcame many conflicts
In Paul Tillich’s 1957 work Dynamics of Faith, he mentions that there are six major components of faith. These six components of faith describe the Franciscan perspective of “faith”. According to Tillich, the first component of faith is “the state of being ultimately concerned”. The second component of faith is that it is supposed to be at the center of all of our personal lives and everything that we do throughout our own individual lives. The third component of faith is that we should have an awareness for “infinite” things such as God himself. The fourth component of faith is that we need to understand that faith can act as fear, fascination, or both of these qualities at the same time. The fifth component of faith is that doubt is a major product that will always exist with faith. The last component of faith is that we need a community in order to have a “language of faith”.
The story of A Good Man Is Hard to Find begins as a family road trip, but tragically ends when a family of six cross paths with an escaped convict. Set in rural Georgia around the 1940s, Grandmother, her son Bailey, daughter-in-law and three grandchildren plan a vacation to Florida. While en route, they’re involved in a car accident that leads to a chance encounter with a murderous convict, The Misfit, and his two companions. Confronted with their own mortality, can this somewhat dysfunctional family escape with their lives from these unfavorable circumstances? Dictionary.com defines the word mortality as the state or condition of being subject to death; mortal character, nature or existence. The idea of mortality in this story not only signifies physical death, but also calls into question the condition of the character’s virtue. The writer of A Good Man Is Hard to Find, Flannery O’Connor, explores the concepts of mortality and salvation through her use of foreshadowing, characters, and symbolism.
All in all, there will always be people that will judge every move everyone else does in life just like the grandmother did in the story. As a result, people will just have to learn how to deal with it because if others decide to judge them they are probably doing something right. However, if you decide to judge someone else before you do it turn the critical eye on yourself and judge your personal life and ask yourself how is your life doing?
Other details in the story also have a similar bearing on Mathilde’s character. For example, the story presents little detail about the party scene beyond the statement that Mathilde is a great “success” (7)—a judgment that shows her ability to shine if given the chance. After she and Loisel accept the fact that the necklace cannot be found, Maupassant includes details about the Parisian streets, about the visits to loan sharks, and about the jewelry shop in order to bring out Mathilde’s sense of honesty and pride as she “heroically” prepares to live her new life of poverty. Thus, in “The Necklace,” Maupassant uses setting to highlight Mathilde’s maladjustment, her needless misfortune, her loss of youth and beauty, and finally her growth as a responsible human being.
In Flannery O 'Connor 's short story, A Good Man is Hard to Find, the theme of good vs. evil unravels throughout the series of tragic events. The Grandmother’s epiphany introduces the idea of morality and the validity is left to the interpretation of the reader. By questioning the characteristics of right and wrong, morality and religion become subjective to personal reality and the idea of what makes individuals character good or bad becomes less defined.
For this assignment we were required to attend an event that had something to do with the women culture. The event that I choose to attend was called “ More than a Few Good Men: A Lecture on American Men and Violence against Women” and it was presented by Jackson Katz. And although I missed the first 30 minutes of the event, the whole topic of conversation was interesting and fascinating. The event consisted of two parts, the first one being about domestic violence and the second being about the by-standard effect as well as the way that media and movies give young boys their ideas of masculinity. All the information provided was helpful and useful when it comes to trying to understand the reason why men act in a dominant and sometimes an intimidating way towards women.
In “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” the readers are lead to believe that the Grandmother is a good Southern woman who lives her life by God’s grace, and the Misfit is a horrendous, murderous, mad man that believes in nothing. Although these first impressions seem spot on at a first glance, the actual characteristics and traits of these characters are far more complex. The Grandmother and Misfit have a very intriguing conversation before he murders her, but in the short time before her death, the readers see the grandmothers need for redemption and how the murderous Misfit gave her the redemption she so desperately needed,
In Guy de Maupassant's "The Necklace" and Toni Morrison's "Recitatif," materialism and the desire to be envied are vital ingredients in the themes of the stories. Both authors enhance their themes through the manipulation of plot and the use of women as their central characters. Maupassant and Morrison prove the notion that women are effective characters in depicting themes that deal with the social issue of craving material wealth.
Mathilde marries Mr. Loisel, a minor clerk in the Ministry of Education. She becomes unhappy with the way she has to live. "She suffered because of her grim apartment with its drab walls, threadbare furniture, ugly curtains." (paragraph 3). She owns cheap belongings and still dreams of being rich and having gourmet food while her husband likes plain things and seems rather happy for where he is in life. She dreams these wonderful and expensive things and it frustrates her. A dream come true happens but instead of being happy she is upset and even more frustrated.
Guy de Maupassant is a realist whose claim to fame is the style in which he conveys political and socioeconomic themes in his literary publications. He achieves his writing style by putting small unfortunate life events under a spotlight. His literary performance is described in his biography from Cambridge, the writer says “He exposes with piercing clarity the small tragedies and pathetic incidents of everyday life, taking a clear-sighted though pessimistic view of humanity” (Halsey, par. 1). Guy de Maupassant’s story The Necklace is a great representation of the style he uses. In The Necklace the main character Mathilde Loisel a beautiful but impoverished woman married to a clerk is in conflict with her lack of wealth and desire to acquire
In The Necklace by Guy de Maupassant the husband "Monsieur Loisel is content with the small pleasures of his life, but does his best to appease Mathilde's demands and assuage her complaints"(Spark Notes). By any means, Monsieur will do anything or try to do anything to make his wife happy. Mathilde the protagonist who's a stunning lady with beautiful looks who feel the need to be rich, so she stays dreaming of what her life would be like as a rich lady. Although she was not rich, but mid class she did have a rich friend that she stays away from because of the simple fact that she was not as fortun...
Its about having honesty and that is what can make the biggest change in life. This is explained in the short story, "The Necklace," by Guy de Maupassant as he introduces us to Mathilde about that honesty is the best way to in life. Mathilde grew up as a person who didn't dress well, look pretty, and charming because she would never be happy about it. Mathilde soon got a paper about an invitation to a ball at the Ministry, but she had no idea what to wear and look like. Madame Forestier invited Mathilde over to look at some jewelry she could wear for the ball. Mathilde found a diamond necklace that she thought was perfect and just right for her. As the day of the ball came around, Mathilde has so much fun that she had no thought in all of what
Between misplacing priorities and self-absorption Mathilde Loisel is created in the story, “The Necklace” by Guy de Maupassant. Mathilde has just about everything a woman could want: remarkable beauty, a loving husband, and a comfortable lifestyle. Material riches are the only category in which she believes she is inadequate to other women. This one factor sets up the conflict present in the story. Throughout the turmoil she must endure, due to her egotistical ways, one would think she would have a change in heart and mindset. Mathilde has a dissatisfied disposition that does not evolve even as her situation does; she is disgruntled being in the middle class, as well as attending a first class event, and ultimately being in the working class.
The night of the ball came and Mathilde looked great; everyone admired her. The evening ended and everyone went home. Mathilde decided that she would look at herself in the mirror one last time before getting out of the clothes. When she did, she noticed the necklace that she admired so much was gone. Mathilde and her husband had to borrow thirty-six thousand francs from people they knew to buy another just like it so they could return it to the friend. Mathilde and her husband were deeply in debt. For ten years they worked day in and day out until finally the debt was paid off.