Materialism In 'The Necklace'

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Materialistic The saying “money can not buy you happiness”, would be used to describe the moral of the short story, “The Necklace”. In Guy de Maupassant’s “The Necklace”, he artfully uses short and simple sentence structure, as well as the inclusion of specific word choices, to build a story full of symbolism. The necklace itself is the key symbol used to develop the primary theme that material items are only as valuable as they are perceived to be and that a person’s value is not based off of their material possessions. Maupassant uses the necklace to symbolize societal desires to obtain materialistic items in order to be happy. In “The Necklace”, Mme. Loisel did not feel elegant enough until she had an expensive gown to wear to the ball …show more content…

Maupassant says, “she suffered ceaselessly, feeling herself born for all the delicacies and all the luxuries” (33). Upon first reading this sentence, it may seem like Mme. Loisel is physically suffering but really she is mentally and emotionally suffering. This wording allows for the readers to feel how much it hurts Loisel to not be surrounded by wealth and elegance. However, once Mme. Loisel receives the grand items she so desired, Maupassant states, “she danced with intoxication, with passion, made drunk by pleasure…” (35). Even though Mme. Loisel is not actually drunk, the use of the words “intoxication” and “drunk” give the reader an image of the bubbly feeling that Mme. Loisel experienced upon adorning herself with her new …show more content…

Loisel’s greedy behavior led to her demise, as well as her husband’s too. She focused on obtaining the finest jewels and having everyone believe her to be of higher status. However, the jewels she thought would make her elegant, turned out to be fake and worthless. This becomes ironic because she felt superior when wearing the necklace but, in fact, it was not of real value. Maupassant puts a lot of irony into this short story and that irony helps to create the themes that are frequently seen throughout “The Necklace”. Guy de Maupassant writes in an eloquent style that captivates the reader; through his use of diction and a short sentence structure he is able to do so. Maupassant effectively portrays the symbolism of real value versus perceived value through the use of the necklace. Guy de Maupassant also illustrates the theme in his short story that you can not assign a value to someone based on his or her material

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