The Necklace Essay

Dangers of Lies

Have you ever wished that you could magically go back in time and take back something you have regretted for a long amount of time? Well that is most likely at the top of Madame Mathilde list of wishes. Madame Mathilde, the main character in the short story “The Necklace” written by Guy de Maupassant could have simply told the truth but instead she lied and caused many years of suffering for her and her husband. Because of one lie, that could have easily not been said, Madame Mathilde had to become a maid for years and her husband had to work days and night with no sleep. Although the truth is difficult to say sometimes, you should never speak of a lie because of the trouble it may bring in the future.

The main character of “The Necklace” is a middle aged woman named Madame Mathilde. She is very selfish and needy, because of her poor lifestyle. Her and her husband have little money and are not known as important people of the town. When her husband gets her an invitation into a ball, it only transforms her into an even more greedy woman. But when she tells one lie, it changes her life for the next ten years. Lies are a terrible concept that have made their way into our society. They get citizens in serious and minor trouble every day all over the world. But the question really is, why do people lie? Most of the time the reason is because of fear of the outcome if they told the truth, but there are many other broad and specific reasons. According to Margaret Paul, a doctor of philosophy, “Lying may be one end of a relationship system, with anger and judgment on the other end.” Lying is a very dangerous concept, that no one can honestly say they haven’t done. The lie in this short story is a major part of the plot in this tragedy.

A tragedy begins with a conflict which the main character is involved in. This conflict in “The Necklace” is Madame Mathilde’s jealousy problem that gets her into a tragic situation. Then the main character rises to power, when Madame Mathilde goes to the ball and appears to be the most dashing woman to attend. Next there is a tragic flaw when she realizes her jacket is not fur like the other rich women's at the ball, so she rushed herself and her husband into their carriage. Then the tragic fall occurs when she loses the necklace and lies to her friend when she replaces it with a new one that her husband purchased for a very large amount of francs. Lastly the tragedy ends in loss, when Madame Mathilde realizes she has lost ten years of her life trying to pay off the diamond necklace when the necklace she lost was made of only fake diamonds. The mode was simple to identify with the many symbols that helped make the mode clear.

The short story, “The Necklace” had many hidden symbols in the story with important meanings, such as the necklace itself. The necklace symbolizes her night in disguise. When she was dressed as if she was one of the richer woman in the civilization, she had her dress and her jewelry which everyone admired. The diamond necklace that she replaced the fake one with also has a meaning or symbol behind it, it symbolizes the dangers of lying and the trouble they went through to get the necklace. Another symbol a reader can find in this story is her shall that she wore on her not at the ball. This symbolizes her and her husband’s struggle with money and poorness, because of the poor shape it is in when she wore it. These symbols gave even more meaning and message that the reader can take from reading this short story.

Lies are very dangerous and sometimes too easy to tell, but they should be avoided because of the many consequences that could follow. Everyone has unfortunately told a lie, but in the end there is always some sort of punishment. So save yourself before you speak and just simply tell the truth, even though sometimes a small lie can be the easy way out. Madame Mathilde caused herself ten years of misery which is quite the consequence. She could’ve easily kept her ten years of precious life by telling the truth about the necklace but instead she lied and then came misery. So learn your lesson from the moral of this short story and tell the truth no matter what the outcome may be. Because in the end, the consequence of a lie is always going to be worse than the consequence of the truth.

Speak Essay

A Roller Coaster Ride

Your head is filled with everything negative you can fill it with, life doesn’t matter to you anymore, and you just feel like giving up. This is what Melinda, the main character in Speak by Laurie Anderson felt when she was beginning to notice she was depressed. Teen depression is a serious cause that can be started in many ways. Loss of friends or boyfriend/girlfriend, ancestor genes, death, disease and many others, there are endless possibilities. But Melinda had a combination of these possibilities to lead to her depression. The novel Speak teaches a great lesson on how important it is to live life as “alive” as you can, and the dangers of teen depression.

Melinda is one of the many teens who have suffered from teenage depression. There are many different ways that teens get depression but Melinda was raped, and then lost her friends because she wouldn’t speak and tell them the truth of what happened. Melinda wasn’t mentally strong in the beginning of the book. But throughout the struggles she went through she became stronger after being forced to go through very tough times. Along with Melinda’s friend life and being sexually assaulted she didn’t have a very good relationship with her parents at home. Her parents were always fighting and not excepting her for who she is. Not getting any love or support from her parents made her depression even worse, like she was digging herself into a deeper hole. But towards the end of the book when she started getting support from friends and a little more from family it was like she had hit rock bottom and now was being led back up to the light. Melinda unfortunately is not the only teen who has gone through an experience like this.

Twenty percent of teens go through depression before they reach adulthood. But there are two main types of depression. Once can be called seasonal depression, where you only have signs of depression during the colder months. Then there is serious depression where you have depression for a long period of time such as years until you recover if you do. Luckily half the time people recover from depression but in some cases people live with depression for their whole lives, and unfortunately it is what kills some. Ninety percent of suicide victims have suffered from a mental illness or depression in their lifetime. It doesn’t seem fair that in some cases something such as losing a friend, can in the end, lead to suicide. Life itself can be disappointing and rewarding but in the end you just have to live to the fullest, which is what Laurie Anderson is trying to speak to you through her novel.

The message of this novel is about life itself and living it as you are alive and enjoying it. As children’s author Stacey Charter said, “Life can be like a rollercoaster…and just when you think you’ve had enough you jump back on, throw your hands in the air, and ride the rollercoaster all over again. That’s exhilaration…that’s living a little bit on the edge…that’s living ALIVE.” This novel teaches a great lesson on enjoying life and living it the best you can because you only get one. Melinda realized in the novel that she wasn’t living life to the fullest and she would regret the months that she wasted. Speak teaches a very clear message to readers that is very useful to live life as you are more alive.

Speak is an inspiring book with a clear message to readers to make life an extravagant experience, and to never regret it. Melinda had to learn the hard way and in the end she did regret wasting precious days of her life regretting she was alive. So don’t waste any time you have, and make life the best you can. Don’t be one of the teenagers that make up the twenty percent of teens who have depression, be one of the eighty percent that enjoy life and cherish every moment. So what are you going to do, get off the rollercoaster? Or jump back on, throw your hands in the air and live alive?

"The Story of an Hour"

"The Story of an Hour" would resemble an irony. It begins with her world in chaos which is she finds out her husband has passed away. She was devastated and was mourning for days in a room by herself. But then the conflict gets serious when she realizes that her husband has trapped her for the past years in their marriage. She becomes in a way insane because she is then rejoicing because of her husband's death, which is unusual. Then the story ends in loss and death because she walks down the stairs and her husband is standing there. So she then lost her freedom and fell do the ground and died, and lost her life as well.

Man vs. Nature

"How to Build a Fire" is a good example of man vs. nature. The man believes he can defeat nature and survive trying to walk the forest in nagative 50 degree weather. He is almost convinced that nature has won when he starts to lose feeling in his hands and toes. But then he builds a fire which is not a success. Then as he slowly cannot feel anything anymore he is finally convinced that nature has won while he dies in the cold weather, alone. This story is obviously man vs. nature because his struggle to survive the deathly cold weather.

Writing Goals

1. Use more difficult vocabulary
2. Backup information
3. Include quotes from text

Man vs. Him/Herself

I think the short story "The Necklace" is a good example of man vs. himself. In the story she is very jealous of citizens that are "higher" in importance than her. So the situation is all in her head, because of her jealousy she had to go to this ball looking the best. So that caused her to want the gown and jewels. Then that led to the loss of the necklace and the ten years of misery and hard work. So Madame Mathilde's problem was all in her head, so she could only fix this problem herself. She had to make herself more content so all of the problems wouldn't have occured in the first place.