Jiamin Bao
June 6, 2007
Draft three
The Quality of Life
The Necklace by Guy de Maupassant has given me a deep impression by the images which have been depicted vividly in the story. The story creates a typical character called Mathilde who lives in her own luxurious dream to reveal factors which lead to a happy life. She loses the necklace which had been borrowed from her friend to be shining at the ball and then she returns another necklace to her friend at the cost of ten years’ hard work, only to find that the lost one was a paste. It may be quite easy to draw the conclusion that Mathilde is a tragic character in the story while a deeper inspection of the story makes me put forward the question that is Mme. Loisel’s life better or worse as a result of losing the necklace?
First of all, the first scene of the story impresses me a lot. Mathilde feels despondent about her life. She lives in the world of her illusion which can be easily found between the lines. “She suffered ceaselessly, feeling herself born for all the delicacies”(38). All the plain things make her feel annoyed and unsatisfied. What she wants is “the silent antechambers hung with Oriental tapestry”(39). The conflict between the reality and her illusion make her extremely depressed. She does not work to achieve any value to the society and she does not enjoy her life, either. Being addicted to her own brilliant dream is her only interest. Therefore, I should say that her living state is negative and horrible because of her luxurious dream.
There is no doubt totally that Mathilde has a hard life which is unimaginable to her in the past to repay the paste with the price of the true necklace. She becomes a woman of impoverished and trivial households “with frowsy hair, skirts askew”(44) The moment the God deprives a person some thing, the God will give him/her some other thing in return. There is no doubt that Mathilde has suffered a lot during the hard period. Meanwhile, I believe she has gained so much which is more meaningful than appearance. Thus, in the last scene of the story, she can talk to her friend without sense of guilt. She can smile to her pretty friend with “a joy which was proud and naïve”(44). She feels tranquil and proud because she knows the value of hard work which makes her keep her dignity. Furthermore, if Mathilde sees her friend who is still charming again, she will choose to hide if she has not experienced all these. Mathilde values decency very much before these which can be seen from her refusal to the party at first because the lack of jewel and her escaping at the end of the party to conceal her poverty. While after all these events, she does not value these superficial things anymore. She does not value appearance so much. Therefore, could she walk towards to her friend and talked to her friend positively. It is worthwhile to get these virtues at the cost of beauty. Above all, she feels “very glad”(44) after all the hard work. Only a substantial life can make people feel happy and own a life with high quality. Mathilde becomes a better person and owns a better life after all the experience.
Everyone has his/her own life. Some can enjoy their lives and achieve many valuable things while some may feel depressed about their lives. The qualities of lives vary from each other tremendously. The key is one’s attitude towards his/her life. Facing life directly is always the best policy to own a positive life. In the The Necklace, owing to being addicted to her colorful dream, there is no possibility for Mathilde to have a life of high quality without some stimulant. Then, the debt came which urged her to work. Her life became difficult but substantial. After ten years, we can see a new Mathilde who does not value appearance so much, does not dream all the time, does work to support the family and feels proud more or less. That is how it works. Facing the life directly or there would be too many difficulties which may become overwhelming in lives. It may be quite tempting and satisfactory to depict a picture (or a dream) in which we can get and achieve anything we desire. While we should always remember the fact that life will not change a bit no matter how fantastic our dreams are. The quality of Mathilde’s life has improved a lot after all these events because she has learnt to face the life no matter how rough it may be. This should also be the attitude of us towards the life. Therefore, can we make our lives full of shine and hope.A life with high quality is accessible as long as we hold the positive attitude towards life.
Guy de Maupassant. “The Necklace.” 1884. Rpt. in The International Story: An Anthology with Guidelines for Reading and writing about Fiction. Ruth Spack. New York: St. Martin’s, 1994.6-8