A human's want for materialistic items can be never ending, and the belief that these things are necessary to their lives can be devastating. The want for material items can overshadow priories and distort the perspective of reality, which can lead to demise. In the short story, "The Necklace", by Guy de Maupassant, the necklace symbolizes human greed and the want for power. Throughout the story, Maupassant shows that a person's need for material things can be toxic, and this want for more materialistic things can lead to ultimate downfall. The protagonist, Madame Loisel, spends her life trying to repay a woman for a necklace that is used to impress others; she is blinded by her own desire; therefore she cannot not see what great life she can ahead of her. .
In the beginning of the story, Mathilde Loisel feel, "she suffer[s] ceaselessly, feeling herself born for all the delicacies and all the luxuries," which shows that the necklace plays an integral part in the short story (Maupassant 1). Since she was born into the lower socioeconomic class, she has the "woe is me" mindset because she does not have such luxuries and delicacies. Since she could not find confidence on her own, she believes that material items will bring happiness. Madame Loisel felt that she was inferior because "she had no dresses, no jewels, nothing[. and] loved nothing but that [because] she felt made for that;" rather than being the one who is envious "she would so have liked to please, to be envied, to be charming, to be sought after" (Maupassant 1). This need to please makes her search for ways to be envied, such as getting the a dress she can barely afford and borrowing a necklace that is believed to be worth more than Loisel can fathom. Loisel makes others at the party envy her; her place in the spotlight is short lived but the consequences are not.
The necklace brings happiness and tragedy into Madame Loisel's life.
