ipl-logo

Materialism In The Gift Of The Magi And The Necklace

990 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Symbolism in the gift of the magi by o henry

In both these stories, “The Gift of the Magi” by O. Henry, and “The Necklace” by Guy de Maupassant, the themes of human heartbreak and materialism are closely examined, through the characters’ dreams, minds, and worlds. An example of this would be the portrayal of the main characters’ relationships with others, and their desperate attempts to impress others through assets. In both these stories, irony is a common theme, with materialism being at the crux of each characters’ eventual downfall, and their misguided ideals of love. The stories emphasize a bleak and depressing world; The opening paragraphs of “The Gift of the Magi” show that life is more heartache than joy: “life is made up of sobs, sniffles, and smiles, with sniffles predominating”. …show more content…

Whilst “The Gift of the Magi” is set in more modern times, it still depicts the stereotypical roles of husband and wife, this being a common theme in both stories, whilst the interactions the couples have are drastically different. “The Gift of the Magi” is set in a time when there was a large emphasis on gender roles, long hair being feminine and a pocket watch being masculine. In the story, Della and Jim trade away their gender identities to uphold and prove their love for each other. Jim and Della want to make each other happy, whereas Monsieur Loisel strives to only make Mathilde happy, though most of the time she is unsatisfied: “”Look here Mathilde” he persisted. “what would be the cost of a suitable dress, which you could use on other occasions as well, something very simple?” She thought for several seconds … “I don’t know exactly, but I think I could do it for 400 franks” he grew slightly pale, for this was exactly the amount he had been saving for a gun”. He sacrifices all that he has in an attempt to please her, though she still demands some kind of jewel, yet with Della and Jim, the sacrifice is

Show More
Related

Comparing Bless Me Ultima And The House On Mango Street

1072 Words | 5 Pages

English First Semester Final Essay To many readers, the most enjoyable stories are the ones that take place without sorrow, and betrayal. While these are both tragic topics, some pieces of literature are fantastic, while still broaching topics that may be harmful to the characters themselves. In the novel Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya, the play A Midsummer’s Night Dream by William Shakespeare, and the novella The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros, all contain examples of the these specific topics. These pieces of literature all share common themes of family, magic, and betrayal.

Read More

Comparison Between 'Of Mice And Men And Suitcase Lady'

637 Words | 3 Pages

Literature that stimulates the feeling of pity, sympathy and sorrow is Pathos. The two pieces of literature express pathos in different lights, showcasing a rollercoaster of emotions for the reader. John Steinbeck’s novel Of Mice and Men and Christie McLaren’s article “Suitcase Lady” both expose heartache and social inequalities to deduce the feeling of commiseration. The bleak hardship of life affirms the heartache through Lennie and the Suitcase Lady. Lennie is loyal to George and is terrified of upsetting his friend.

Read More

Hope In Eugenia Collier's Marigolds

499 Words | 2 Pages

How can uncontrollable emotions affect people positively? In the short story “Marigolds” by Eugenia Collier in an impoverished town during The Great Depression, a 14 year old African American girl named Lizabeth finds herself in a tough situation as she hears her father sobbing and can’t control the emotions she is feeling. These uncontrollable emotions lead to Lizabeth completely destroying Miss Lottie’s marigolds that symbolize hope as she feels all hope is gone. Having that uncontrollable emotion that Lizabeth had leads to her maturing and growing up as she realizes what she did was wrong. Using symbols, the author’s emphasis of two characters' losing all hope in their lives and their despair leads to evoking empathy into the audience as they relate to their similar experiences.

Read More

Irony In The Things They Carried By Tim O Brien

572 Words | 3 Pages

This is evident by the fundamental portrait of literary skills employed by Tim O’Brien. The book portrays emotional and physical burden (O’Brien 83). The story shows characters with both emotional burdens, such as grief, terror, longing, and love. For instance, Henry Dobbins lifts his girlfriend Pantyhose and shows love and longing for her, as the author says, “the way Henry Dobbins carried his girlfriend's pantyhose around his neck like a comforter” (O’Brien 28). This is an indication of literary skills that clearly portray feelings of affection used to make the story lively.

Read More

Greed In 'The Necklace, Civil Peace, And The Necklace'

714 Words | 3 Pages

We are greedy. We as humans cling to the materialistic things in our lives. Some of us have everything we need to live a perfectly comfortable life, but keep wanting. Greed controls almost everyone, no matter how many possessions we have in our name. In this, when our greed exceed our needs, we lose sight of what is important, leading to our detriment.

Read More

Critical Lens In Kate Chopin's The Story Of An Hour

1247 Words | 5 Pages

It might surprise readers to know that, by the use of this lens, traces of these subjects can be found in almost any work despite the original nature and intent of the tale. A prime example demonstrating the power of the Marxist lens can be seen when the lens is applied to Kate Chopin’s short story, “The Story of an Hour”. This short conte depicts the brief sentiment of freedom felt by the fictitious character Mrs. Mallard as she learns that her husband has been killed in a railroad accident. However, her blissful reverie is put to death by death itself when her husband, alive and well, walks through the doors of their home to meet her. On the surface, this would appear to be a tale void of social, political, or economic association; how could such logical themes develop in such an emotional tale?

Read More

Belonging In Guy De Maupassant's The Necklace

826 Words | 4 Pages

As humans, one of our natural desires is the need to fit in with others. This psychological desire can cause people to go great lengths, even spend unimaginable money just to stay up to date or “stay in the circle”. Celebrities spend money on things that the average person couldn’t think of purchasing for themselves. Even the average person can sometimes feed into the temptation of buying something they really can’t spare the money on. These extra luxuries can come in the form clothing, jewelry, or even traveling experiences.

Read More

Comparing The Necklace 'And Civil Peace'

666 Words | 3 Pages

Views about wealth can be different from every people. Some believes that wealth can solve every problem and provide happiness and others believe that wealth is not really the most important thing in the world. It just depends on what the person wants from being wealthy or how they want to use it in their lives. Two authors, Guy de Maupassant the author of “The Necklace”, and Chinua Achebe the author of “Civil Peace”, wrote short stories where views on materialism are portrayed by characters in similar and in different ways. Madame Loisel from “The Necklace” is a middle class woman who always dreams of becoming rich but ended being poor because of valuing the necklace more than anything to her that caused her happiness at first but years of suffering after .

Read More

Loss In The Necklace

496 Words | 2 Pages

Pride brings fulfilment to people's lives on the surface, but below the surface it only brings destruction. In the short story, “The Necklace” by Guy de Maupassant, the author present this idea through his excessively prideful character, Mathilde Loisel. Mathilde Loisel, an unsatisfied woman, takes all of her perfectly valid possessions to be proud of and throws them away resulting in years of hardship for her and her husband. Mathilde Loisel’s pride is disguised by lovely experiences and luxurious belongings only to be revealed as something of pure destruction. Pride will bring bliss only to later bring destruction.

Read More

Eveline And The Things They Carried Literary Analysis

786 Words | 4 Pages

When one is seeking a new voyage to self-discovery such as love, death, war, or even an exciting moment in your life, it’s a struggle to find yourself when all of these occupancies’ are happening. In James Joyce “Eveline” and Tim O’Brien “The Things They Carried”, the characters overwhelming circumstances of events have a topic similar to each other’s story, love. With comparing any two stories, there is differences in a few topics as well. James Joyce story “Eveline” is regarding about a young girl name Eveline.

Read More

Compare And Contrast The Gift Of Magi And The Necklace

759 Words | 4 Pages

Meanwhile, Mathilde suffers because she cannot buy fancy clothing, diamonds and live in a palace (De Maupassant). In addition to that, both of them have husbands that deeply care for them. Della’s husband, Jim, in order to please her wife, sold his only watch to buy her a Christmas present (Henry). In the meantime, Mathilde’s husband used all his father heritage to help pay for the necklace replacement (De Maupassant). It is possible to see through characterization that even though they are characters from different stories Della and Mathilde have a number of

Read More

Mathilde's Greed In The Necklace By Guy De Maupassant

785 Words | 4 Pages

The narrator illustrates Mathilde’s quality of selfishness after her husband asks her how much money she would like for a dress by remarking, “She thought over it… going over her allowance... thinking also of the amount she could ask for without bringing immediate refusal” (222). This portrays Mathilde's greed because she knows she is asking for more money than she needs for a suitable dress. Later, readers discover Mathilde is careless. When she first finds out the necklace is missing, she and her husband have a conversation. Monsieur Loisel asks, “Are you sure you had it when leaving the dance…if you had lost it on the street, we'd have heard it drop.

Read More

Ray Bradbury's Embroidery

279 Words | 2 Pages

Ray Bradbury never seems to doubt his themes, or the way he presents them. From his first publication in the mid-1900’s to now he does not appear to falter. The same holds true for his short stories. In “Embroidery”, Ray Bradbury conveys a grim, bipolar ending to three women using symbolism, emphasis, appeal to emotion, and vivid descriptions. Bradbury’s style is very distinct and noticeable in all his works.

Read More

Personal Narrative: My Love Of Cheer

798 Words | 4 Pages

Cheer is a great sport. When you cheer it makes you super happy and that is the way you want to be. When I cheer im all happy and into it. As you read along you will find some interesting facts about me and my life at cheer. So let’s get started!

Read More

Similarities Between A Doll's House And Never Let Me Go

1565 Words | 7 Pages

To Suffer or Not to Suffer As human beings, we try to eschew from the suffering and adversities that plague human morality. Nonetheless, society remains drawn to the surplus of tragedies in plays, movies, and literary works. Not only do these works provide an escape from our own hardships, but suffering and tragedy is a significant aspect to the development of human society. Personally, I have experienced my own share of sorrow, trauma, and difficulties in life. While they may not be as severe as those faced by the characters in A Doll’s House and Never Let Me Go, a pervasive theme still manifests in the presence of suffering.

Read More

More about Materialism In The Gift Of The Magi And The Necklace

Related Topics

Open Document