"The Necklace," "A Monkey's Paw," and "The Gift of Magi" all have a distinctive technique that leads to a deeper meaning of the story. The technique of "The Necklace" is represented by symbolism of the necklace. In "A Monkey's Paw," the technique that is seen is foreshadowing. In "The Gift of Magi," irony is the technique that is noticed throughout the story. All three short stories deal with the irony of consequence. Each story involved a major decision and in each case the result of the decision was incredibly unexpected. Through symbolism, foreshadowing, and irony the authors conclude that what's inside the heart is far more important than material wealth. In "The Necklace" Mathilde is a poor young woman who idolizes beautiful things …show more content…
If she would've been proud of her inner beauty and not so focused on wealth and status, then her life would have been so much more rewarding. She learned the incredibly tough consequence of not Madame Forester about losing the necklace. Her decision cost herself time and money but more importantly, cost Mathilde her pride. In "The Gift of Magi," Della and Jim sacrifice their prized possessions for each other and for love. Irony is represented in this story when Della and Jim both get each other gifts that mean a lot to each other. However, what they did not realize is that when Della cut her hair to to buy Jim a chain for his watch, she was unaware that Jim was going to sell his watch to buy her combs for her hair. The irony of their gift exchange is monumental as their unconditional love for one another took over for their own personal possession. Jim exclaims, “I don't think there's anything in the way of a haircut or a shave or a shampoo that could make me like my girl any less. But if you'll unwrap that package you may see why you had me going a while at first." The magi which are described as wise men also signifies irony because Della and Jim's presents were more than wise. They represented that a gift does not need to be expensive to have value. A gift can be more meaningful just by the thought. "The Monkey's Paw," deals with a family's unwillingness to accept things as they should be. They desired more and paid the dire
The story has clearly won such acceptance because it is beautifully made, but also because it says something which we can learn from. The author also uses the theme “The Gold-Legged Frog” to show luck is ironic and paradoxical because it was luck that the character got money, but it was not actually a ‘luck’ because he lost his son whom he loved so
Thereafter, by learning a lesson from her doings there was a great transformation in Mathilde’s character from beginning to end of the story. After giving the diamond necklace to Forrestier she knew they have to live a “horrible” (5) life “of the needy.” (5) . Thus “with sudden heroism” (5) she decided to repay the debt taken for that necklace and “dismissed their servant, changed their lodgings and rented a garret under the roof.” (5) The woman who valued her youth and beauty the most lost it and became the woman of “impoverished household-strong and hard and rough.” (5) But sometimes she
Taking place in a countryside home W.W. Jacob’s short story “The Monkey’s Paw” illustrates the White family’s two-day interaction with a seemingly innocent mummified monkey's paw. Each character presented in the short story represents natural human traits that can prove to be negative when greed and curiosity and are involved. The use of symbolism throughout the story proves to be vital to the reader, as it allows him or her to understand the importance of every action done to the monkey’s paw has an opposite consequence. This correlates to everyone on Earth’s predetermined fate and the problems that an individual could face when greed overcomes their needs, even when it is for a better or worst life. When individuals are consumed by greed, like the White family, they must accept the consequences no matter how severe it is when it is something they truly seek in life.
In the short story, “The Monkey’s Paw” by W.W. Jacobs, many themes are present throughout the piece. These themes are revealed by following the lives of the White family, who make foolish decisions influenced by their greed and desires. These decisions end up harming or changing every member of the White family, from Herbert to Mrs. White and even Mr. White. W.W. Jacobs clearly wrote this story to illustrate to readers that acting upon greed and your own personal desires results in loss and sorrow for everyone involved, in hopes that readers wouldn’t make the same mistakes that the Whites did.
How to feel after a family member dies because of a lust for money. In the story, "The monkey's paw" it shows how being greedy brings sorrow. For instance, in the story when the whites first wished for the two hundred pounds the family had this excitement and could not wait to see the money, how it got there, and if it was true. After realizing that they would lose a son fro this money they became very unhappy. Mr. white woke up elicited by the sorrowful cry of his wife.
The Monkey’s paw is a short fictional horror story written by W.W. Jacobs to tell the mysterious tale of an English family. In W.W. Jacobs’s story the White family’s lives are brought to a drastic turn of events when they received a visit from Mr. White’s military friend, Sergeant major Morris. Mr. White insisted on keeping a cursed monkey paw in which he was warned of its horrible consequences. In this story, wishes come to life but not in the ways the family would have hoped for. W.W. Jacobs’s overall purpose was to show the reader just how powerful fate was and this is what built his basic foundation of this short story. In efforts to create a visual in the reader’s mind of each setting, feeling, and expression, Jacobs does a great job of
She was self-righteous and egotistical. Mathilde felt she deserved better then Claude and treated him poorly. She displayed this when she was rude to Claude about preparing and eating stew. Her only desires were insignificant and meaningless little things, mostly relating to wealth. She was so concerned with what she didn't have that she took what she did have for granted. Her insecurity about her possessions and how others view her was what lead her to borrow Jeanne’s necklace in the first place. Another one of her character flaws was her dishonesty. If she had told Jeanne she lost her necklace she would have saved herself and her husband a decade of strenuous work and unhappiness. Mathilde’s character flaws played a major role in her
How do you feel you would deal with a common problem, such as poverty? Well in the stories “The Necklace” and “The Gift of the Magi” two women, named Mathilde and Della, deal with “poverty” in very different ways, but end up facing some of the same challenges. Madame Mathilde is a greedy housewife who wishes to be bathed in diamonds while Della just wishes for her husband to be happy and as grateful for her as she is for him. However both Della and Mathilde end up feeling foolish because of the end result of Mathilde working 10 years drowning in debt when they didn't need too and Della sold her prize possession to buy something for her husband's prize possession when did the same thing.
People often wish they could make three wishes on a lamp. This would be an easy way to get what you want. But is not. Make a wish is easy, but what you get might not be what you want. “The Monkey’s Paw” by W.W.Jacobs and “The Necklace” by Guy be Maupassant. Prove the theme be careful what you wish for through what the characters wish for and the outcome of those wishes.
Compare and Contrast Essay The Necklace and The Gift of the Magi have differences and similarities to each other in many ways. Each tells a story about giving and receiving and how a person’s attitude toward life helps them react when things don’t go their way. In the story, The Gift of the Magi, Jim and Della’s presents for each other show a respect and kindness that money cannot buy, which makes them the wisest.
The irony in the short stories, "The Necklace" and "The Gift of the Magi," ought to be further analyzed. Through examination of this element in literature the reader can derive many morals and themes that could be useful in their own lives. " The Necklace" is a perfect example of irony and sends many powerful messages to the reader. On one level the reader learns that cheating and lying are not always the best policy. Because of M. and Mdm.
When writing fiction, authors tend to use many elements of writing in order to make certain parts of the story stick out to readers and become more significant. In the short story “The Necklace” by Guy de Maupassant, the story line suggests the theme that any one mistake can lead to a lifetime of impact. The specific elements that help support this theme are third person narration, a sense of nostalgia, and repetition that creates curiosity among characters and readers. By way of example, a significant element of this story to express the theme is using third person narration. Having a third person narrator who is not a character in the story allows more creation of imagery.
The Gift of the Magi follows Della and James “Jim” Dillingham Young. The young couple lives in a time of economic hardship, leaving them with little money in the holiday season. Della had “one dollar and eighty-seven cents… [with] sixty cents
Mathilde’s is downright inconsiderate to her husband as she declines her husband's attempts to appease her. This shows her lack of compassion towards anything but her status and possessions because she is only thinking about herself. Monsieur Loisel is blind and will do anything to make his wife happy even at his own expense yet she cannot see this and asks money of him that he gives over. Mathilde doesn’t seem to see how loyal her husband is to her and would do anything for her. As for her friend Madame Forestier, Mathilde despite saying she is good friends with madame Forestier cannot visit her house without weeping. Mathilde is envious of what Madame Forestier’s wealth and possessions. During the dance, Mathilde lavished in all the attention she received from her male admirers. The only time in the story where Mathilde is truly happy is when she is surrounded in admiration and envy of the
She did not accept her existence. She sought an aesthetically pleasing lifestyle, and felt that she would give anything, even her life to have it. She did not realize the fact that she had a loving husband and a secure lifestyle. She was not happy with her surroundings and possessions. She felt cursed to have such beauty and grace with no class to go with it. She dreamt of things that were simply not meant for her and she overlooked the things she did have. It is ironic that she should not recognize her wealth in love and security but, in turn, want a lifestyle that is usually cold, unloving, and shallow. Mathilde daydreamed about things that are unimportant to those that have them. It actually upset her to be invited to a party because she doesn't have anything to wear. At this point in the story it is easy to see that she misjudged her wealth. She wanted a new dress for the Chancellor's party, and even though her husband was saving the money to buy a shotgun, he gave her the money almost without hesitation. This was not enough. She also had to have beautiful jewelry because "…there's nothing more humiliating that looking poor in the company of rich women." (De Maupassant 7). The reality of her situation was that although she was not as rich as the women she admired from afar, she was certainly in a position to be comfortable financially, and she was not poor.