The short story, "The Necklace", by Guy de Maupassant exposes the internal battle of a woman grasping at a life not her own and how this aspiration negatively effects her life. The main character, Mathilde Loisel, believes that because of her beauty, she deserves to be among the affluent. The fact that she is not wealthy but desires to be so, gives her such grief. Her craving to move up in society eventually leads to her descent into severe poverty. Among the twisted ending of this story, de Maupassant presents two central themes within society. Through implementation of third person writing, he shows that value is often measured by perception rather than reality.

By writing "The Necklace" in third person, De Maupassant displays that Mathilde's desire to be more affluent stem from her perception of value, and has negative affects on her outlook on life. He chooses to employ this style over first person writing, because first person voice might give the reader sympathy for Mathilde instead of revealing the self-destructive path that her misperceptions are leading her towards. He writes, "She was one of those pretty and charming girls... [who] suffered ceaselessly, feeling herself born for all the delicacies and all the luxuries" (21-22). Presenting this in third person allows the reader to see how ridiculous Mathilde sounds with her thinking that just because she is beautiful, she deserves all of her desires. This causes her to have a deep unhappiness with her life that normal women wouldn't. "All those things, of which another woman of her rank would never even have been conscious, tortured her and made her angry" (de Maupassant 22). Presenting this in third person shows the reader that Mathilde is abnormal and striving for aspects of life that women of her position don't normally consider. When presented an invitation to an exclusive, fancy ball, "instead of being delighted, as her husband hoped, she threw the invitation on the table with disdain" (23). With third person writing, the reader is given a glimpse into her husband's feelings of joy for his wife. Mathilde is given a great opportunity; a glimpse into the life she so badly covets. However, she is still not satisfied, she complains that she has nothing to wear, claiming, "there's nothing more humiliating than to look poor among women who are rich" (24). Despite the fact that Mathilde has the possibility of spending a night in the role she wants most of all, she worries about how the rich party guests will perceive her, and "should almost rather not go at all" (23). Mathilde is willing to miss an extravagant night solely because of her worries about the impression she is making. This habit of Mathilde's leads her to borrow the necklace and instigates her descent into a more impoverished life. De Maupassant's application of third person voice allows the reader to understand that perception can be detrimental to the happiness one feels within his or her own life.

In his short story, De Maupassant uses the necklace as a symbol to show that perception affects value. This allows the reader to see that there is an aesthetic difference between an original object and a fake. However, as the narrative shows, forgery can often be equally as beautiful as the original. "All of a sudden she discovered, in a black satin box, a superb necklace of diamonds, and her heart began to beat with an immoderate desire" (24).  Mathilde never doubts the necklace's authenticity due to the facts that it came in a fancy satin case, and that the wealthy Madame Forestier owns it. The necklace, however, is a fake. Perception can easily deceive a person into believing a fake is, in reality, genuine. Madame Forestier knows this, as is exemplified by the fact that she owns fake jewels to begin with. At the party, with her new necklace, "All the men looked at her, asked her name, and looked to be introduced" (24). De Maupassant shows that the rich party guests are also fooled by Mathilde's facade. Not only is the necklace a fake, so is Mathilde herself. Even still, those at the party never suspect her to be a fake thanks to the seemingly expensive necklace around her neck and her very presence at this exclusive party. The reader knows that Mathilde remains unchanged besides the external presence of the jewelry around her neck. The guests' perception of her, however, is clouded by this facade, leading them to believe she is something she is not. This mirrors Mathilde's perception of the 'diamond' necklace as real, even after being presented with several clues to its duplicity. Mathilde eventually loses the necklace, and is forced to purchase another in its place. When trying to locate the necklace's maker, Mathilde discovers that the necklace was not originally bought at the place labeled on the black satin box, but instead, purposely switched. Mathilde and her husband track down the jeweler who made the box, only for him to tell them that, "It was not I, Madame, who sold that necklace; I must simply have furnished the case" (26). When they tried to find a necklace similar enough to replace the original, "they went from jeweler to jeweler, searching for a necklace like the other" (26). Finding a necklace similar to the original proved difficult. These two facts, to Mathilde and her husband, were clouded by their belief that the necklace is real, and therefore are disregarded. However, diamond necklaces are not usually completely unique, and are rarely moved into the case of another. Throughout "The Necklace", the application the necklace as a symbol allows the reader to comprehend that value is truly based off of one's perception.

De Maupassant's employment of third person voice in "The Necklace" and the application of the necklace as a symbol shows the reader that perception can affect something or someone's perceived value. Throughout the story, the author clues the reader in to the deeper meanings of the destructive ability of perception. Mathilde perceives herself to be worthy of great luxuries and therefore cannot be content with an average life. This leads her to borrow the necklace. Her perception of that necklace to be real leaves her unable to see it as the fake that it really is, and begins her descent into an even more impoverished life. When Mathilde sees Forestier at the end of the story, she tells her that "[she] has been ten years paying" (28) for the necklace she borrowed. Madame Forestier then reveals to Mathilde what her misperceptions allowed her to miss; that the "necklace [is] paste" (28). De Maupassant portrays the inner struggle within Mathilde as she is forced to learn her lessons the hard way.
