The Necklace By Guy De Maupassant

What choices do we make in our lives that are driven by our needs and wants?

What was the last item you purchased? Was it an essential to survive or just a hankering desire? Most people would probably attempt to justify that their last acquisition was purely imperative to their life, however, soon they would recognize that the item was nothing more than a pining desire. People buy food and water as the basic unit of needs to survive. Nevertheless, the human brain has a greedy craving to obtain the top-of-the-line objects in life. This day in time, the human race lives in a corrupted materialistic world. Humankind is held under the weight of peer pressure, social class, and one's reputation. People have become more self conscious and insecure causing them to long for more “modern” possessions. A short story, written by Guy de Maupassant, called the “The Necklace”, highlights the greed of the world and the pressure of society’s expectations that weigh on people’s shoulders. After receiving an invitation to an extravagant party, all Mathilde could consider was how she could not attend the ball since she did not have any lavish clothes to wear. “‘What do you expect me to do with that?’... ‘I haven’t a thing to wear. How could I go?’”(Maupassant 374-375). She

Nathaniel Hawthorne demonstrates this topic well in the short story “The Golden Touch”. It is about King Midas, a king who was already the wealthiest in all the lands, who craved more gold. “‘I wish that everything I touch be changed to gold’” (Hawthorne 466). A man who prior had riches beyond belief was greedy enough to squander for more; he turned everything into gold including: all of the nature, food, and his precious daughter. The price for his greediness was the only thing he loved as much as money. People prioritize their wants on the same level as their