Essay Comparing The Necklace And A Good Man Is Hard To Find

ride, greed and selfishness are not ways one will frequently view themselves, nevertheless just because one does not see themselves as any or all of these characters, others around them think just that of them. Frequently the actions of one person, not only directly affects themselves, but also negatively effects everyone around them.
“The Necklace”, by Guy de Maupassant and “A Good Man is Hard to Find”, by Flannery O’Connor are two short stories that take place in two different eras of time. “The Necklace” takes place in Paris, France around the late 1800’s and “A Good Man is Hard to Find” takes place in Georgia, USA sometime in the mid 1900’s, mainly in the car, traveling to Florida on vacation. At first glimpse these too stories appear

to have no similarities between the two; however, looking specifically at the two main characters from each story, Mathilde from “The necklace” and Grandmother from “A Good Man is Hard to Find” you will see resemblances. These woman equally show signs of selfishness and pride. The qualities may be portrayed differently, nonetheless the result of these behaviors is comparable. Each of these women shared the common mannerism of negative pride and selfish.
Mathilde lived a lower middle class life, comfortable yet she desired to be better than others, “Give your invitation to some fellow-clerk whose wife is better provided than I am/It exasperates me not to have a single ornament of any kind to put on.

I shall look like a fright-I would rather stay at home” (Maupassant 38-39/49-50). Mathilde rather than taking her husband suggestion, “Why not wear flowers? They are very fashionable at this time of year. You can get a handful of fine roses for ten francs” (Maupassant 50-51), instead, she borrowed an elegant looking diamond necklace from her friend. She had achieved all she wanted for the night, “She was prettier than them all, lovely, gracious, smiling, and wild with delight. All the men looked at her, inquired her name, tried to be introduced” (Maupassant 69-70), this was the life she believed she should have. Come the night comes to an end, she panics as she realizes the necklace is missing. She lies to her friend to buy time to find an identical necklace and finally she does. It took 10 years for her and her husband to pay off the debit lent to them to replace the borrowed necklace, only to find out after years of hard work and poverty, the necklace was no more than costume

jewelry.
Grandmothers believed she was better and more important than others, often referring to the past, “In my time/ children were more respectful of their native states and their parents and everything else. People did right then” (O’Connor 44-45). Grandmother tried to persuade her son, Baily to drive down a dirt road where she remembers a house from her childhood. Unsuccessful, she manipulated her way with her grandchildren, telling them there was a secret panel with hidden treasures inside, “The children began to yell and scream that they wanted to see the house with the secret panel/All right, but this is the only time we’re going to stop for anything like this. This is the one and only time.” (O’Connor 129/136). As they traveled down the dirt road moments before the accident grandmother embarrassedly remembers “The house she had remembered so vividly was not in Georgia but in Tennessee”, (O’Connor 257-260) Grandmother stayed quiet about this realization, she was far to prideful and selfish to admit her mistake. This self-centered act caused not only grandmother but the entire family to be murdered.
Although the consequences were different, because dead or alive both their lives were ruined.