“The Gift of the Magi” and “The Necklace” are two distinctive stories with differences and similarities. “The Gift of the Magi” is about a couple who each desire to subsidize each other a Christmas gift. They both offer something beneficial in return. “The Necklace” is about an unappreciative; ravenous woman who receives a necklace from a friend. She takes it to a Ball and loses it. I will identify the differences and similarities amidst these two stories.
“The Gift of the Magi” by O. Henry and “The Necklace” by Guy de Maupassant possess several similarities and several differences. First, the characters in “The Gift of the Magi” and “The Necklace” are in lack of money. At the beginning of “The Gift of the Magi” it says “One dollar and eighty
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Della counted it three times” (O.Henry 1). This quote reveals that Della did not possess much money to purchase frivolous things but she is saving it for a special cause. Additionally, they both are married, desire things for their own incentive, both men are munificent and ardent to their wives and owned cherished goods. In the Gift of the Magi” it says, “I want you to understand me, Dell,” he said. “Nothing like a haircut could make me love you any less” (Henry 5). Jim still loves Della for herself, not her hair or looks. Although, “The Necklace” and “The Gift of the Magi” have several differences. First, Della is also munificent and beholden, moreover, Madame Loisel is not as ardent and does not show as much countless affection for her husband. In “The Necklace” it says,”One evening her husband came home with an a air of triumph, holding a large envelope in his hand. “Look” he said, here’s something for you”... “The Minister of Education and Mme. Geoges Rampouneau request the pleasure of M. and Mme. Loisel’s company at the Ministry, on the evening of Monday January 18th.” Instead of being delighted, as her husband had hoped, she threw the invitation on the table resentfully, and muttered. …show more content…
First, “The Necklace” and “The Gift of the Magi” are the corresponding because there both take place the past. Additionally, they both are set in a cold period of time. In “The Necklace” it says “They walked down towards the Seine, desperate and shivering” (Maupassant 3). It was cold outside when they were walking outside, desperate to find a cab. On the other hand, the settings in “The Necklace” and “The Gift of the Magi” have some differences. First, “The Necklace” is in France and use Francs, although, in “The gift of the Magi” is set in the USA and uses US dollars. In “The Gift of the Magi” says, “Tomorrow would be Christmas Day, and she had only $1.87 with which to buy Jim a gift” (O.Henry 2). She was struggling to buy Jim a gift for Christmas. Second, “The gift of the Magi” is set at Christmas time, although “The Necklace” it’s set when a Ball takes place. In “The Gift of the Magi” it says, “Nothing. Only I haven’t a dress and so I can’t go to this party. Give your invitation to some friend of yours whose wife will be turned out better than I shall” (Maupassant 2). She got an invitation to a Ball, unfortunately, she does not have a dress that she thinks she would look good in. Without doubt, the setting in “The Necklace” and “The Gift of the Magi” have similarities and
Values are spread all around the world, and many people’s values differ. These can lead to people being judged, or indirectly characterized by other people. In “The Necklace” Mme. Loisel is a beautiful woman with a decent life, and a husband that loves her, and only wants to make her happy. She is not rich but she makes it along, she insists of a better, wealthier life. When her husband gets her invited to a ball, she feels the need for a brand new fancy dress and tons of jewelry. When the couple realizes they cannot afford jewelry as well, they search out to borrow her friend, Mme. Forestiers’ necklace. She comes to notice she no longer has the necklace on when she leaves the ball. This later troubles her, as she has to work for a long time to collect enough money to buy a new necklace. This story describes the relationship between a couple, who have different dreams, and how desires can revamp your life. Guy de Maupassant, the author of “The Necklace” uses literary devices to prove people come before materialistic items.
Stray and The Gift of the Magi At first glance, “Stray” and “The Gift of the Magi” do not appear to be similar texts. One story is about a little girl who finds a puppy and struggles to convince her parents to keep it. The other is about a wife who struggles to find enough money to give her husband a Christmas gift worthy of him. However, after deep analysis, it is clear to see that both stories share common ground, especially in theme. “Stray,” by Cynthia Rylant, is about a little girl who finds a stray puppy that wandered to her house in the winter.
The use of Irony is seen in both short stories representing the constriction in marriage. In “The Necklace” Madame Losiel receives a spectacular invitation to a prestigious gala which her husband went to great ends to get. Loisel had this desire to live a lifestyle that was way beyond her means. After purchasing a beautiful gown worth 400 franks Mathilde Loisel came to the realization that she had no jewelry to go along with the dress. Her husband suggested “You will wear some natural flowers” and she replied “ No; there is nothing more humiliating than to look poor among a lot of rich women” (Maupassant 2). Mathilde Loisel than went to her wealthy friend Mme.Forester to borrow a diamond necklace that was not affordable to replace if anything
“The Gift of the Magi” Thematic Essay In the short story, “The Gift of the Magi”, the author O. Henry teaches us that love is more valuable than money. Della, the main character, is a very loving person. She really wants to get her husband Jim a Christmas gift. When she finds out that Jim cannot use his gift, she learns that her love for Jim is more valuable than getting him a gift.
Values are spread all around the world, and many people’s values differ. These can lead to people being judged, or indirectly characterized by other people. In “The Necklace” Mme. Loisel is a beautiful woman with a decent life, and a husband that loves her, and only wants to make her happy. She is not rich but she makes it along, she insists of a better, wealthier life. When her husband gets her invited to a ball, she feels the need for a brand new fancy dress and tons of jewelry. When the couple realizes they cannot afford jewelry as well, they search out to borrow her friend, Mme. Forestiers’ necklace. She comes to notice she no longer has the necklace on when she leaves the ball. This later troubles her, as she has to work for a long time to collect enough money to buy a new necklace. This story describes the relationship between a couple, who have different dreams, and how desires can revamp your life. Guy de Maupassant, the author of “The Necklace” uses literary devices to prove people come before materialistic items.
#1 New York Times best-selling author, Karen Kingsbury, says, “You don’t have love without sacrifice; you can’t have sacrifice without love.” Sadly, when it comes to people sacrificing something very dear to themselves for someone else, most people struggle and cannot do it. Although, that is not the case for Della and her husband. Della and her husband, Jim, are characters in the story, “The Gift of the Magi,” written by O. Henry. The two lovers live in a cheap, rundown apartment with little money to spare.
Loisel repaid the necklace together with their sweat and tears. Mathilde didn’t have a choice; she had to change from a vain, ungrateful, material, bored wife, into a hardworking proud and loving wife. She even says, right before she runs into Mme. Forestier, “What would have happened if she had not lost that necklace? Who knows? Who knows? How life is strange and changeful! How little a thing is needed for us to be lost or to be saved!”(39) In that quote I saw 2 things, when she asked herself what would have happened if she didn’t lose the necklace, she doesn’t go into some fairytale about what life she could be living, she just accepts what she is now, even if it’s not the easiest life in the world. At the very end of that quote “How little a thing is needed for us to be lost or to be saved!”(39) The fact that she added “or to be saved!” to her thought, tells me that she realizes that she was vain and unappreciated and that she lacked character, but now she is grateful, even though it was such a terrible thing, she was grateful that she was able to say that she was a better person now, even after everything that happened to her than she ever “dreamed” of being before. Guy de Maupassant certainly described a very difficult hardship for Mathilde in “The Necklace” but in the end, everything that happened to her, made her a much better and stronger woman inside and out. This story teaches a very important lesson, you have no idea what you can do and who you can become, until your chips are down and you’re put between a rock and a hard
Henry, who wrote “Gift of the Magi”, showed the crazy love between a man and a woman in a serious relationship. Even though giving up their most prized possession was difficult, they did it out of loe for each other. They wanted to give each other the best life possible, even though that meant taking some of their own happiness
Authors choose to use symbols for various reasons in short stories. It is a way for them to use on object or idea to convey many different meanings to the audience. In “The Necklace,” the author Guy de Maupassant uses a very lavish looking necklace as his main symbol. The necklace helps defining what type of woman Mme. Loisel is. It also acts as the central conflict of the story. The symbolism that is used throughout this story is crucial to revealing the theme and understanding the main character.
Many critics agree, “The Gift of the Magi” is, in all respects, an amazing and one of a kind story. One critic says, “Ironically, Fagin arrives at something utterly crucial to the success of 'The Gift of the Magi': that it has everything—an absorbing (if short) narrative drive and a twist ending that makes it wholly original” (Korb). Even renowned critic, Rena Korb, agrees; O.Henry did an excellent job with this story. Though O. Henry wrote many great stories, one of his most famous, and favorite, stories of all time is “The Gift of the Magi.” “The gift of the Magi” is a classic about a couple who sacrifices their happiness for the other. It is one of Henry’s most popular stories by far; even being remade many times. Such a popular story must have a powerful base with which to explain its message. That message is incorporated quite well into a few major themes; though, many different themes were used in this story. These themes ranged from materialism, generosity and love to more subtle undertones like selflessness and poverty. Of course, the most prominent is materialism; though, Henry goes to great lengths to show such a complex theme to his audience. He uses excellent literary devices like setting, conflict, creative syntax, and even figurative language all to his advantage. O. Henry uses many different, complex, literary elements to portray these different themes in “The Gift of the Magi.”
Furthermore, the lifestyle both women want ends up in disaster however, one ends in death while the other in hard labor. In "The Necklace", the wife ends up losing her friend’s expensive necklace which causes her to work hard to earn enough money to pay of a new one. Due to all the work she loses her beauty. In contrast, whereas in "The Jewels" the constant attendance of the opera house during the winter causes her to die of inflammation which resulted a deep sorrow towards the husband. Both wife’s lived life differently. Both tries to find the best way to fulfill their desire for the good
In the short story “The Necklace”, the main character, Loisel, is a woman who dreams of greater things in her life. She is married to a poor clerk who tries his best to make her happy no matter what. In an attempt to try to bring happiness to his wife, he manages to get two invitations to a very classy ball, but even in light of this Loisel is still unhappy. Even when she gets a new dress she is still unhappy. This lasts until her husband suggests she borrows some jewelry from a friend, and upon doing so she is finally happy. Once the ball is over, and they reach home, Loisel has the horrible realization that she has lost the necklace, and after ten years of hard labor and suffering, they pay off debts incurred to get a replacement. The central idea of this story is how something small can have a life changing effect on our and others life’s. This idea is presented through internal and external conflicts, third person omniscient point of view, and the round-dynamic character of Loisel. The third person limited omniscient point-of-view is prevalent throughout this short story in the way that the author lets the reader only see into the main character’s thoughts. Loisel is revealed to the reader as being unhappy with her life and wishing for fancier things. “She suffered ceaselessly, feeling herself born for all the delicacies and all the luxuries.” (de Maupassant 887) When her husband tries to fancy things up, “she thought of dainty dinners, of shining silverware, of tapestry which peopled the walls…” (de Maupassant 887) As the story goes on her point of view changes, as she “now knew the horrible existence of the needy. She took her part, moreover all of a sudden, with heroism.” (de Maupassant 891) Having the accountability to know that the “dreadful debt must be paid.” (de Maupassant 891 ) This point-of-view is used to help the reader gain more insight to how Loisel’s whole mindset is changed throughout her struggle to pay off their debts. Maupassant only reveals the thoughts and feelings of these this main character leaving all the others as flat characters. Loisel is a round-dynamic character in that Maupassant shows how she thought she was born in the wrong “station”. “She dressed plainly because she could not dress well, but she was as unhappy as though she had really fallen from her proper station.
As I did research on how others interpreted the story, the same conclusion would pop up. The necklace was used as a symbol of higher class of wealth. We use symbolic items to try and fit into societies belief of “fancy”. The deeper meaning is within the true value of the necklace. It is a fake just as she is! She is trying to be something she is not and ends up losing the necklace which holds a false value as well. This is why a person should not take everything as it
Never accept anything and you will never be disappointed. The Necklace by Guy de Maupassant is translated from French to English by John Siscoe.This story , as the title suggests, focuses on the necklace. As the necklace is given the symbolism of wealth , royalty, friendship, self respect and at last an ornament. Mathilde Loisel, young and married, has felt that she has attracted men at the ball and has relieved her wish of being rich by wearing dresses and a “diamond” necklace. This story has situational Irony. To mathilde the necklace was suppose to be one night thing ; ironically necklace takes a decade of her life.
The Necklace also displays distinctive realism in the use of socioeconomic influences which are essential to the plot. The major conflict in the story would be absent and the theme would not be obtainable without Mathilde Loisel’s insecurity about her own socioeconomic reputation. An example of Loisel’s self-deprivation nature is presented when she realizes she does not have a necklace, she says “I shall look absolutely no one. I would almost rather not go to the party” (Maupassant, sec. 3). Another example of the self-conflict caused by social pressure is Loisel’s immediate attempt to replace the necklace and her reluctance to speak to her friend Madame Forestier about the necklace for ten whole years. If she were not conflicted by societal pressures she might have avoided the whole situation altogether. The Necklace establishes a realistic difference in value between the necklaces and proposed clothing. Her husband proposes flowers which were valued 10 franks so in any case if she had chosen the flowers there would have been an insignificant economic loss. Her decision not to tell her friend about the necklace ends up costing her seven times the worth of the original. The roses symbolize the simpler things in life to the theme of the story. Mathilde Loisel’s withered appearance at the end