Short+Story+Analysis

Short Story Analysis Have you ever lied to someone, and then desperately tried to cover it up, but then later regret it? That’s what happened to the protagonist, Mme Loisel, in “The Necklace” by Guy de Maupassant. One of the lessons Mme Loisel learns is to always be honest. She also learns that things are not always what they seem. Characterization, foreshadowing, and irony highlight these two lessons. Mme Loisel’s characterization played a part in her not telling the truth to Mme Forestier, whose necklace she borrowed. Mme Loisel is a proud woman, so she would never admit to doing something wrong. M. Loisel also helped cover up the fact that the original necklace was lost because he loved his wife very much and would do anything to keep her happy. Mme Forestier, Mme Loisel’s friend’s characterization is also significant because she would have understood if Mme Loisel had told her the truth about the necklace, because she is a very kind person. Irony plays a very big part in the lesson to always be honest. The biggest irony is the fact that the necklace was fake. The new necklace that M and Mme Loisel bought was real and cost $36,000, which took them 10 years to pay off. Mme Loisel had wanted to borrow the original necklace so she would feel rich, but it had made her much poorer than before. Also, the only reason Mme Loisel wanted to borrow the necklace is because she thought is was real. Foreshadowing highlights the second lesson; things are not always what they seem. Mme Forestier said, “Why, of course” when Mme Loisel asked to borrow the necklace, and her response probably would have been different if the necklace was made of real diamonds. At the party, Mme Loisel “danced madly and wildly, drunk with pleasure”, so it foreshadows that it’s possible she lost the necklace while dancing. When Mme Loisel returned the new necklace, Mme Forestier didn’t check the box to see if the necklace was there or not, and she most likely would have done that if the necklace was real. In “The Necklace”, the author uses characterization, irony, and foreshadowing to convey two important lessons. Through characterization, he showed the reader why the characters reacted the way they did when the necklace was lost. The whole story was based on irony, since the necklace was fake. Through foreshadowing, he gave us clues leading to the fact that the necklace was fake.