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Greed In Guy De Maupassant's The Necklace

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Guy De Maupassant’s “The Necklace”, (rpt. In Greg Johnson and Thomas R. Arp, Perrine’s Literature: Structure, Sound, and Sense, 12th ed. [Boston: Wadsworth, 2015]380-386) teaches a valuable lesson that love and self-responsibility take a person much farther than materialism, jealousy, and greed. A woman looking for happiness through material possessions without ample education on wealth building only digs a hole. The ending serves as a subtle reminder that materialism often buries people, while many have accrued great wealth through humility and frugality. The reader may empathize with the main character, as this character resembles most humans. The reader empathizes easily with her, as she represents human desires and ignorance of what makes a person happy. The …show more content…

Some readers may not recognize it, but her inability to form a plan that benefits her in the long term may hurt her in some way. The story starts by impressing the reader that her choices will work out, she’ll gain friends, and her life will move on. When she loses the necklace, everything changes. The portrayal of the poor as uncaring snobs occurs seldomly, another bit of irony in this story. Arrogance, however, eludes the rich person in exchange for understanding in the end.Acceptance of the mistakes of others overshadows her greed. She’s more than willing to give to the poor person, even if it’s for a kind of petty cause like this. The story shows the fallaciousness of modern stereotypes, and that objectivity is key in judgement of a person. Although the story may perpetuate some hatred of the poor, it also teaches a great life lesson. The person who finds happiness with what they have and tries to build on it themselves feels much happier than those who try to get rich quick or lust for short shocks of

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