THE DIAMOND
NECKLACE
Guy de
Maupassant
In
my analysis, this short story will be analyzed from two elements of prose,
those are character and characterization, and also motivate. This is the story
about Mathilde Loisel, a woman who was very poor; she was distressed at the
poverty of her dwelling, at the bareness of the walls, at the shabby chairs,
the ugliness of the curtains. However, she was very pretty and charming. She
had a husband who was a little clerk of the minister of Public Instruction. In
one evening, Mr. Loisel, her husband came home and brought a big envelope in
his hand. It was an invitation. Because of having no more interesting gowns and
jewels, they finally borrowed a necklace to Madame Forestier, Mathilde’s
friend. Brief story, after having a good party, she went home and lost that
necklace. They could not find it. Because it’s too expensive, so that they
should worked hard to exchange that necklace by doing a lot if thing. They
spent ten years just for buying a diamond necklace which is worst forty thousand
francs. At the end of the story, Mathilde and Madam Foroister met each other, and
how surprised Mathilde is by knowing that the diamond necklace which is worth
at most only five hundred francs had suffered her.
First, I will start to analyze from the characters
of this story. In this story, Mathilde Loisel’s character is a pretty and
charming woman. In other sides, she is also a very poor woman whose life is
miserable. She suffered continuously and distressed at her poverty dwelling. There
is no alteration of her life from the beginning until the end of the story; she
is always the person who is destitute.
Second,
from the explanation of her characters above, I can determine her
characterization as an uppity woman. Notwithstanding she is a poor woman, she
want to be in perfect appearance; she wanted to wear a good dress and jewel
when in the ball. It is because she was considered as a pretty woman by many
people. She felt that she supposed to get a high respect from many people
because of her beauty. She is also a responsible woman. When losing her
friend’s diamond necklace, she tried hard to find that necklace back. Whatever
it would be, and how hard it was, she would do it.. Despite she would work
harder such as came to know what heavy housework meant and the odious cares of
the kitchen. She washed the dishes, using her dainty fingers and rosy nails on
greasy pots and pans. She washed the soiled linen, the shirts and the
dishcloths, which she dried upon a line; she carried the slops down to the
street every morning and carried up the water, stopping for breath at every
landing. And dressed like a woman of the people, she went to the fritterer, the
grocer, the butcher, a basket on her arm, bargaining, meeting with
impertinence, defending her miserable money, sou by sou.
Third,
I am going to analysis the motive in this story. She is just like the character
in the story the old man and the sea
who forced himself to fish in the sea alone. It is one of self-actualization.
In this story, the motive of forcing herself to be most perfect in the ball is
self-actualization. She wanted to be like a rich housewife. In another
condition, she has a high responsibility to return that lost-necklace; the
motive is she wanted to show that she could change that necklace by her work
hard. She did not tell the truth to the owner of that necklace, because she
wanted to keep her prestige otherwise she would find many trouble.
She
though that she should speak to her all about how did she paid for the necklace
when she met Madame Forestier in the Champs Elysees. She wanted Madame
Forestier to know that she could change that diamond necklace. She was glad of
her attainment.
In
additional, I will talk about the messages which can be caught from this story.
The first message is just be who you are. Do not forced yourself to be a
perfect person in many people by hiding your true life. Because you will only
make people admired you, however, you are going to sacrificing your happiness
for paying those all. The second message is always be honest to admit your
mistake. Be honest is seemed rather harder than hide your mistakes, however the
effect of hiding your mistake is more dangerous than telling the truth. The
third message is do not be so uppity. If only Mathilde did not force herself to
be perfect in that ball, she would not borrow that diamond necklace. She can
survive from her poverty ten years later if she did not spend her whole life to
change that necklace. Finally, a night of happiness is bartered with ten years
in sufferings because of an uppity.
