The Necklace by Guy de Maupassant

QUESTION 1
How do you feel after reading the story?

By the end of this story, I always feel better for Mr. Loisel. He loved his wife at the beginning, stayed with her through those difficult years, and ended up with a wife who was much more content. From his point of view, I'm guessing all the sacrifices were worth it. Do I feel sorry for her? Yes, but only because she used these difficult times to become a better person. 

On the other hand, that doesn't mean that what she does later is not a huge sacrifice.  She is making her own life a nightmare because she wants to make good a mistake she made.  This is surely admirable even in a person who has (in the past) been excessively materialistic and shallow.


QUESTION 2
Write the ending of the story.

“The Necklace ” is most famous for its “whip-crack” or “O. Henry” ending. O. Henry, was famous for his twist endings that turned stories on their heads. In “The Necklace,” the surprise ending unhinges the previously implied premise of the story. Until this point, the reader has been able to interpret Mathilde’s ten years of poverty as penance for her stolen night of pleasure at the party and for carelessly losing the borrowed necklace. The ending shatters that illusion, revealing that the ten years of misery were unnecessary and could have been avoided if only Mathilde had been honest with Madame Forestier. Losing the necklace had seemed to be Mathilde’s fatal mistake, but it was actually Mathilde’s failure to be truthful with Madame Forestier that sealed her fate. This shocking realization sheds new light on the previous events and suggests that Mathilde’s future—even though her debts are now repaid—will be none too rosy.

The horrible irony of the fact that the Loisels spent years paying off a replacement for what was actually a worthless necklace is just one instance of irony evident  in “The Necklace.” Also ironic is the fact that Mathilde’s beauty, which had been her only valued asset, disappears as a result of her labour for the necklace. She had borrowed the necklace to be seen as more beautiful and winds up losing her looks completely. Perhaps the most bitter irony of “The Necklace” is that the arduous life that Mathilde must assume after losing the necklace makes her old life—the one she resented so fully—seem luxurious. She borrows Madame Forestier’s necklace to give the appearance of having more money than she really does, only to then lose what she does have. She pays doubly, with her money and looks, for something that had no value to begin with.

QUESTION 3
Who is your favourite character and why do you like the character?

The character that I find the most interesting is Mathilde Loisel.  Everyone has certain traits that set them apart from others. This is proved to be true with Mathilde Loisel a middle class woman who has a supportive husband that pleases her never-ending wishes. This woman grieves over owning little luxuries after hard work her husband is able to get her an invitation to a Ministerial Mansion, a prestigious event, in the beginning she seems satisfied. Her mind quickly changes when she want a new dress which her husband buys. Not satisfied she borrows a necklace from her dear friend, which she later loses and repays. She goes to many hardships due to her traits these involve being finicky, dependent, and self- centered.

Another trait Mathilde owns is being dependent. I beleive she is very dependent on her husband. She always expects him to please her or buy the items she wants. An example of this would be when she loses the necklace he is the one who spends his inheritance 
to pay back for her mistakes. Mathilde also depends on him to fix her mistakes , which throughout the story he does so. Because of her actions the story brings hardships to both.

Being self-centered is another trait Mathilde Loisel owns. She never thinks about anyone but herself. At the ball when her husband tries to protect her from the cold. She pushes him away because she doesn’t want to look poor due to her shabby cover. Another way she is self-centered is at the beginning of the story she mopes about how miserable she is because she doesn’t live in aluxurious home. Instead of being thankful for what she has she grieves over not being charming, wealthy or power-stricken. 

If it weren’t for Mathilde’s actions and traits the moral of the story would have never been learned.  Being dependent, finicky, and self- centered are what made Mathilde an example of living in a sad grieving life 

The Open Window by Saki aka Hector Munro

QUESTION 1 

What are the moral values that you have learnt from the short story?

Among the lessons that might be taken from "The Open Window" one important one has to do with the repression of women in a patriarchal society. Vera is not merely a mischievous girl but a cruel girl. Being a female, she is confined to the house and cannot go shooting with the three macho males. No doubt she would like more freedom and adventure, as her story about the feral dogs in India suggests. Her story about the three men being sucked into a bog may be a sort of wish-fulfillment. In other words, she might have thought about this misadventure long before Framton Nuttel ever appeared on the scene. Vera might be compared with Ibsen's Hedda Gabler, a woman who becomes cruel because of being forced into a passive domestic role for which she is temperamentally unsuited. Vera takes her anger and frustration out on poor, neurotic Framton Nuttel, another male.

In Ibsen's Hedda Gabler, Tessman's Aunt Juliana represents the stereotypical domestic  female of the period and serves as a foil to Hedda

She is the quintessential nurse, willing to sacrifice herself for others. Only in that does she find much meaning in life. In this respect, and in most others, she is a stark contrast to Hedda, who detests her.

Likewise, Vera's Aunt Sappleton represents domestic women of Edwardian England and serves as a foil to Vera, who probably detests her too and sees her future in this brainless woman who is so exclusively devoted to her three men that she can only talk about the one subject that interests them: killing birds.
Vera is described as calm, cool, poised, and self-possessed, but underneath that young and innocent facade there is a very different person brooding, one who is preoccupied with cold and morbid fancies and developing a sadistic, passive-aggressive character.

QUESTION 2

Who is your favourite character in the short story. Provide reasons for your answer.

The character that be my favourite is Vera,of course, is the storyteller without equal, who is quickly able to seize on details and weave convincing tales to horrific effect.Note how she dominates the story - it begins with her words and ends with them. We are told in the first sentence that she is "a very self-possessed young lady of fifteen". It is clear that she sees in Framton Nuttel an object for one of her stories, as she is quick to establish that he knows nobody from the area and thus she is free to use her excellent wit and intelligence to create a fable that will shock Framton Nuttel for her own amusement. She shows herself to be an excellent actor as well as a storyteller. Consider how the author narrates her duping of Framton Nuttel:

"Here the child's voice lost its self-possessed note and became falteringly        human... She broke off with a shudder."

She is not only creative, but quick, intelligent and able to fool others into believing her words. This is demonstrated yet again at the end of the tale when, nonchalantly, she creates another tale to explain Framton Nuttel's swift escape from the house to trick her family, telling the tale "calmly" with complete equanimity. Clearly this tale celebrates the power that a good storyteller can have over a susceptible audience, with Vera presented as the master storyteller, and everyone else her ignorant and naive victims.


QUESTION 3
Provide an alternate ending to the short story

The post escape of Mr Nuttel.  As i saw the ghost aproaching, i was frightend emensly. So i decided to run out of there as  fast as possible. I got in my car and rushed away from that place but when i i got on the road I  ended up runninng into a large tree. Luckily, the men who i thought were ghosts really were  living men and saved me from the flamming car. The Heart Condition Mr. Nuttel was scared so much by the sight of these "ghosts" he fainted right there on the spot. Vera then made up a story that he said he had a heart condition that sometimes causes him to go unconscious, and they only way to wake him up was to pour water over him. So that's what they did. Vera thought it was hilarious but in the end when Mr. Nuttel was awake he told them her little fib and for the rest of his stay there she had to wait on him hand and foot Vera learned she isn't as clever as she thought she was. A Solid Mistake As the misty apparations came into view, Mr. Nuttel filled with fear, ran for his life. at the very moment he turned and began to run, the door swung open and hit him square on his pointy nose. It was Vera's little brother. He was very excited, for he had just leaned to tie his shoe. Meanwhile Mr. Nuttel had been knocked unconcious. Billy, Vera's little brother, began too cry as he relized what he had done. Quickly, Vera's aunt ran to the medicine cabinet to fetch some sniffing salts. When they reived Mr. Nuttel, he was offered a full weekend stay at the inn for free, but being so shaken from the frightful events, he decided to decline and just ride the bus home. He hoped maybe that would go a little bit smoother.