Thank You Ma Am Comparison

Compare and Contrast Essay The two short stories, “The Necklace,” written by Guy de Maupassant, and “Thank You Ma’am,” authored by Langston Hughes, have two characters that portray similarities and differences. In the story by Guy de Maupassant, Mathilde borrows a necklace from her friend, but loses it. She lies to the lender, saying she broke it and is getting it fixed. This leads to Mathilde and her husband paying wallets of money to purchase a new diamond necklace, identical to the one lost. The friend reveals that it was a fake, made from cheap plastic. In the story, “Thank You Ma’am,” Roger is a young boy who tries to steal a large purse form an old woman. The woman, Mrs. Jones, takes Roger to her house to feed and wash him. Roger walks

Roger has no family to give him the support he needs, while on the other hand, Mathilde has a husband to take care of her. In the short story, “Thank You Ma ’am”, Mrs. Jones asks Roger, “Ain’t you got nobody home to tell you to wash your face?” Rogers response to this is, “No’m.” This text evidence revels that Roger has no source of support where he lives. In “The Necklace,” Mathilde has a husband, “One evening, her husband returned, elated, bearing a large envelope.” Having a husband gives Mathilde and advantage over Roger. Mathilde has someone who loves her, and wants the best for her. Roger’s livelihood is compromised by the fact that he doesn’t have such a

Mathilde lies to her friend, telling her that she broke the necklace and is getting it fixed. If she had told the truth that she had lost the necklace, she wouldn’t have had to suffer and pay the money for a cheap plastic piece of jewelry. Roger plans to steal in the beginning of the book. Roger thought that stealing was the only way to live. His morals were low, and so were his actions when he tried to take Mrs. Jones’ purse.

The difference in their morals, is that Roger tried to steal for a better reason than why Mathilde lied. Roger stole for his well-being; to acquire money for blue suede shoes. Mathilde lied to her friend because she didn’t want to face the consequences of her actions. When Roger tried his hand at theft, it wasn’t as terrible and action as lying to protect