The Necklace by Guy de Maupassant

Mostly everyone can’t get what they want, what they wish for, or what they long for, something they know they can’t have. Many may try to go for it, most, not being cautious at all, but then realizing how much they have put their self at risk when they come to the final outcome. In the short story “The Necklace”, Guy de Maupassant writes about a woman who couldn’t get anything she wanted, a women who was in deep jealousy of other wealthy woman. Through characters, you can learn that when you try to get what you want, the best might not come out of it.

Though only a few, Guy de Maupassant writes about his three main characters in a very interesting way, sometimes a tad confusing. Mrs. Loisel, the main character, was pretty and charming, but was very ungrateful for what she had, and what she couldn’t have. Mrs. Loisel was not the wealthiest person nor the poorest person. From her actions in the beginning of the novel, you can tell that she is in for something not so good. Knowing that she wants the best for her, when she gets the opportunity she tries to get what she wants. For example, when she was invited to a formal party, she refused to go unless she looks decent. Her husband offers to give her money to buy a dress. Once she had gotten the dress, she asked for more, jewelry. Instead of buying her own, she takes the chance to borrow a friends beautiful necklace. But at the end of the party, she loses the necklace, causing her to have to buy a new one for her friend, which cost a lot. In the end, she was disappointed and very unhappy.

Though Mrs. Loisel was one of the most important characters, there are still a couple more. Mr. Loisel, Mrs. Loisel’s husband who spent so much to make her wife happy enough to attend the party with him. He had offered to spend many francs to buy Mrs. Loisel a decent dress; even though the couple was not rich, he was generous enough to offer his wife money he was saving up for something else. Also, it was he who had told his wife to borrow a piece of jewelry from a close friend, so it was really him who started the whole conflict with the necklace.

To tie the whole story together, Jeanne was the character who had owned the original necklace. Agreeing to let Mrs. Loisel borrow the necklace made Mrs. Loisel happy. Because of her happiness, she did not seem to care about the necklace when she went to the party. She only thought about the men staring at her and the fun she was having. But unfortunately, she had lost the necklace and bought Jeanne the same beautiful real necklace that had cost 10,000 Francs. Jeanne had given Mrs. Loisel the hardest time for the past several years she had to pay off the necklace. Proof shows on page 28, where she finally admits how she had ruined her life, “ Yes, I have had some hard days since I saw you; and some miserable ones – and all because of you – “ After the necklace had been paid off, Jeanne unexpectedly made things worse when she had told Mrs. Loisel that the necklace was a fake.

In reality, this experience from a made up character can really happen to the lives of many others. For example, it could be true that a friend could borrow many things from another friend. But, that friend could be careless enough to not take care of it or even lose it, just like what Mrs. Loisel had done in the short story. Just like the ending, many friends try to cover up their wrong doing , but end up with things getting worse. From this short story, you really do learn that if you ask for too much, it is true that good things can come out from it.