The Necklace:
“The Necklace” is a French short story published in 1881 by Guy de Maupassant, it was one of the short stories that made Guy de Maupassant recognized as master of the genre. The story is taking place in Paris specifically at the residence of the Loisels, the home of Madame Jeanne Forestier, the palace of the ministry of Education, paris shops and other Paris streets. So the protagonists of this story are Mathilde a pretty young woman of a middle-class family, Monsieur Loisel a government clerk and Mathilde’s husband, Madame Jeanne Forestier who is Mathilde’s friend. The story is about a middle-class couple Mathilde and Monsieur Loisel who one day were invited to a social affair at the palace of the ministry of Education. Mathilde wasn’t happy because she had nothing to wear but her husband gave her four hundred francs to buy a dress. After she bought the dress, she discovered that she had no jewels to wear, so she went to her friend Madame Jeanne Forestier and chose a beautiful necklace. So she went to her gala social event and she was so attractive, after she spent good time, Mathilde went back home and had the shock of her life that the necklace has gone. She searched for it everywhere but she couldn’t find it. She and her husband started work really hard to pay for the necklace, Mathilde worked outside of the house and inside and her husband did his best to get more money as possible. After ten years of honest hard work, Mathilde met Madame Jeanne by coincidence in the streets but she didn’t recognize her, when she told her the truth Madame Jeanne told her “Oh, my poor Mathilde. But mine was false. At most, it was worth five hundred francs!” Mathilde was a victim of her own desires and the choices she makes to fulfill them. Everyone should accept his level of living and never take the responsibility of something bigger than him. We can see the themes are honesty, humility and hard work are what shape a character not the appearance like clothes and jewels.
The Bet:
“The Bet” is a short story written by Russian author name Chekhov. The story is about a banker who during a party bet anyone for two million dollars to stay in prison for five years to prove his point that capital punishment is better than life imprisonment. A young lawyer accepted the bet and extended the duration for fifteen years but he has the right for everything he wants like books, lectures, coffee and everything else. Also the lawyer wanted to prove his point that having any life is better than no life at all. The terms of the wager are that the lawyer lives in complete solitary without any human interaction for the whole fifteen years. The lawyer spent 14 years and 365 days and 19 hours and all he had to wait is five more hours but he escaped from prison what proves the banker’s point. The lawyer was being killed slowly from the inside therefore the banker’s argument is still right. “The Bet” is a story that emphasizes the idea that the life of a human is much more valuable than money and that money can’t buy happiness.
Signs and symbols:
“Signs and symbols” is a short story published in 1947 by Nabokov. The story is about an émigré couple dealing with the poorer and more desperate side of émigré life in America whose son been committed to a mental institution because he was suffering from “referential mania” what is a state of mind in which the patient imagines that everything around him is a veiled reference to his personality and existence. His parents wanted to deliver him a birthday gift but unfortunately this day he tried to suicide so they were forced to return home without seeing him. When they were back home, his dad couldn’t sleep and started to cry feeling that he’s “dying” so they decided to bring their son back home the next day. Suddenly the phone ranged and they were afraid to hear the news that his son succeeded in suicide but it was a wrong number. The phone ranged another time and they had the same feeling but it was also a wrong number. The phone ranged for the third time but during it ranged the story ends what gives us and opening ending where we could expect anything to happen, the son’s death or another wrong number. The story shows us how miserable the life could be when you are afraid to lose someone who’s really close to your heart especially if it is your child. The parents in this story only lived with more fear day by day, poverty and eventual darkness. The theme of this story is displacement and victimization.
One of these days:
“One of these days” is a short story by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. The story is about Aurelio Escovar the main character as a dentist and the other character is the mayor of his city. One morning, Aurelio was polishing false teeth during that moment the Mayor of the town arrives suffering from a toothache. First the dentist refuses to see him because he was too busy polishing the false teeth. The Mayor was suffering for more than 5 days, the dentist accepted to pull out the wisdom tooth of the Mayor but it has to be without anesthesia so he could feel the pain. In this short story we can see how a normal man like a dentist make a powerful politician and important person that he consider that he and the town “are the same damn thing” suffer and have power over him to make him pay for all the injustice he has done. Also we can see that the medical department could control all different levels of people because a very sick person no matter his level is the weakest. And we can see how the treatment is so effective that he releases the Mayor from the pain.
Eveline:
“Eveline” is a short story by James Joyce, it’s about Eveline a young woman living with her father alone in a small town in Dublin, Ireland after her mother was dead. She had two brothers, Ernest who was unfortunately dead and Harry who is usually out of town. Eveline fell in a love with a sailor called Frank. They used to go out together in front of everybody until her father expressed his disagreement and he had no good argument for his disagreement. Then she was forced to go out with him secretly. She started to think about leaving the house and with Frank to Argentina. Her life was so depressing because of the way her father treated her, plus, she was taking care of two children who weren’t hers. Suddenly she remembered her promise to her mother and when it was time to leave, she changed her mind and left Frank. Eveline is a responsible person who has a hard life that influenced her. She had to take her biggest decision in life is to be with her father and live unhappily or to go and marry her beloved. We can see that she tried to please everyone but she had to choose and she remembered the good moments with her father and how he took care of her. The story shows us that every person wants to have the life in his imagination, the perfect life. At the end, when they face problems from many different part they come back to the reality. Also we can see how a vow to close person can change a person’s life decision.
