Similarities Between The Necklace And The Gift Of The Magi

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Drew Caires

Essay

In the stories “The Necklace” by Guy de Maupassant and “The Gift of the Magi” by O. Henry, they both have themes having to do with true and false values. In both stories the characters chase after what they believe is important to only then later on find out what is truly valuable. Even with distinct characters and plots, these two stories manage to show the same theme through two different stories.

In “The Necklace” the main characters, Monsieur Loisel and Madame Loisel, have very different values, with these values changing throughout the story. In the beginning Mme. Loisel has a good life, she is middle-upper class with a good husband and home. She was born into a family of clerks which is also her husband's occupations. …show more content…

Loisel’s husband, M. Loisel. His values are very different then hers. He was happy about his situation and his family unlike her. He cares about his wife and her happiness much more than material goods. In comparison to his wife, who also complains about dinner, he has a more positive outlook. Saying “Ah! A good stew! There’s nothing I like better.”(140) He also understands how his wife has these big dreams and he always tries to help her out. He gets her an invitation to the big dance, even with these being extremely hard to come by, especially for a clerk. Later on, when his wife says she can’t go because she doesn’t have a good dress he is willing to sacrifice money he had put aside to buy a rifle just for her happiness. He also has a much more positive outlook on the party in general. He believes Mme. Loisel will look just fine no matter what she wears, even if it’s only a basic dress and flowers. But, his wife doesn’t feel the same so he just goes along with it. When she does eventually lose the necklace her husband sticks by her side. He puts all of his money towards the new necklace while basically signing his life away to try and loan the money for the replacement necklace. This shows how he puts much value in his wife over himself and his values are greatly different from

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