Dragons, witches, princesses and knights. These are the imaginary friends in so many children's lives. For young adults, these fairy tale characters give way to darker characters and more realistic situations. However, what do they all have in common? They live in short stories. Two short stories that are interesting are, "The Necklace" by Guy de Maupassant and "The Gift of the Magi" by Henry. Madame Loisel is a beautiful woman who does all she can to give back the necklace she borrowed from her friend. Della sacrifices her most valuable possession so she has the chance to give her beloved husband a nice gift for Christmas. While there are some obvious similarities, both authors approach these stories, specifically with the characters, tone and point of view, in many ways. The main characters of both stories are similar because they are giving. After Madame Loisel noticed that she had misplaced her friend's necklace, …show more content…
In the story "The Necklace", the point of view is 3rd person omniscient. "She thought for several seconds" when trying to decide how much money to ask for to buy a new dress. The reader knows what Madame is thinking about throughout the story. The reader also knows Monsieur Loisel's thoughts. "He had not thought about it" (Maupassant). The reader does get in his mind and thoughts but not as often as Madame Loisel. Similarly, in the story "The Gift of the Magi", the point of view is also 3rd person omniscient. When Della finally found the perfect gift for Jim "she knew that Jim must have it". In this example, the reader knows what Della was thinking when she saw the gold watch chain. Jim owns a valuable watch, "Jim knew that no king had anything so valuable" (Henry). The reader knows the thought that Jim just had. This proves the writing is in 3rd person. Since we also knew the thoughts of Della this makes the point of view 3rd person omniscient. Clearly, both of these stories have the same point of