Comparing two texts is a very beneficial way to having a better understanding of each text. The reason is because it allows one to look at the mindset of two different authors or pieces and to be able to grasp each meaning. The readings "The Necklace" and "This Is Water" are interconnected in each of their own respective ways. By understanding "The Necklace" it will allow for "This Is Water" to be better interpreted. The main character in Maupassant's story, Mathilde, is a good example of what is wrong with society in the view David Foster Wallace's reading. Her life best represents what "This Is Water" describes as a regular and boring life that gets worse because the person does nothing to change it. The lessons of gratitude and consequences in "The Necklace" allow the reader to interpret the lessons in "This is Water" of awareness and self-improvement.

Gratitude is a trait that many people should have in their lives. In "The Necklace" the author, Guy de Maupassant, writes about the main character Mathilde not being grateful for anything her life. She represents those who think life is unfair even though their lives are very good compared to many. Her life is one of having a carefree life of doing nothing except complain for things she does not have that will make her seem more important in front of the wealthy and influential. Those things are jewelry, nice clothes, an elegant home, etc. The main character, Mathilde, says in "The Necklace", "She had no dowry, no expectations, no means of being know, understood, loved, wedded, by any rich and distinguished man" (Maupasssant 33). This quote shows her deep disdain for her current life and the reasons why it was terrible in her eyes. Her ideal life would be one in which her husband would be an extremely wealthy person who would have great taste and many extravagant things. Mathilde was also mean to here husband who tried his best to make her life happy as best as he could, such as getting an invite to a nice ball.  While preparing for the dance, she visited her friend to try on jewelry. She "could not make up her mind" and "kept asking if she had more"(Maupassant 35). That showed how she could not be happy with good jewelry, she had to have the best and would not stop until she could acquire it. By showing more gratitude, she could have avoided many of the consequences that would plague her life.

The consequences in "The Necklace" were quick, fierce and happened all in the span of a few days. The author, Maupassant, wants to show what can happen to those who make bad decisions because these decisions can change a person's life in the blink of an eye. Her consequences made drastic changes to her life style and made her realize the hardships that would follow from this. By showing how easily this can happen to a normal person just from a simple necklace, the author is showing how the smallest problems can cause the biggest trouble. After Mathilde and her husband bought a new necklace she realized she needed to change herself in order to pay off this debt. The author writes that, "They dismissed their servant; they changed their lodgings; they rented a garret under the roof", which were some of the many changes they forced upon themselves for ten years (Maupassant 38). She became, "The woman of impoverished households" and that meant she became the opposite women she wanted to be. All these actions were consequences for her previous behavior. The biggest thing to have happened was when Mathilde saw her friend and talked to her about what really happened. Her friend said that her necklace was "paste" and "worth at most five hundred francs" (Maupassant 39). This shows how everything that she went through was in the end all for nothing and so she suffered because of her pride. "The Necklace" and its representation of gratitude and consequences are important to the understanding of "This is Water".

These lessons in "The Necklace" help to interpret the awareness in "This Is Water" because the David Foster Wallace wants people to be more aware of the way they act in order to help further them in life. Mathilde was not aware of how bad she was and so did not realize the way she was acting would eventually ruin her life. Her husband never once scolded her for wanting too much and so she thought her behavior was acceptable. She was the person in "This Is Water" that David describes as being negative all the time. Examples such as, "my natural default setting is the certainty that situations like this are really all about me" and "everybody else is just in my way"(Wallace XIV, XV). What David was saying is that most people care for themselves, are selfish no matter what, and these thoughts are "hardwired into our boards at birth"(Wallace XIII). If people can take a moment to think about their everyday lives to understand what is going on and be grateful for it, then it will help them expand themselves. If Mathilde was more grateful she would have been able to understand that everything in life does not need to be hers or she does not need to be the center of attention. If she was aware that she was ungrateful she could have taken many steps to fix her problem, which was she would, "worship money and things" and from that empty feeling of "never having enough"(Wallace XVI). Wallace wants the audience to stray away from those paths and to have more freedom instead of being confined to that one belief. Mathilde's obsession with that one belief brought the many consequences she later faced. David talks about how by not being aware we face many consequences such as despising our lives and doing the same thing over and over. Mathilde had to do this to pay back the debt and did it for ten years, which completely changed her. By comparing these lessons to awareness, self-improvement can also be done.

Self-improvement in "This is Water" can be interpreted by understanding gratitude and consequences too. David wants everyone to improve himself or herself in order to help save them from their own destruction. Wallace says, "The really important kind of freedom involves attention, and awareness, and discipline, and effort, and being able to truly care about other people and to sacrifice for them" (Wallace XVII). In "The Necklace" Mathilde eventually does come around to this type of thinking by doing many cost saving acts to help pay the debt. She learned what hard work meant and pulled her own weight in the relationship. Discipline and effort was key to this entire goal happening as her life was always in danger of falling apart. Her life changed because she did not have to worry about being elegant and realized how the life they left behind was very good and was grateful for it. That is what Wallace wants in people so if their life is going downhill they will have the determination to fix it. Overall these lessons helped to show how self-improvement was a large part in "This Is Water".

In conclusion, by understanding gratitude and consequences in "The Necklace" it allows for a better understanding of awareness and self-improvement in "This Is Water". Mathilde showed how by not being grateful and the consequences from it changed her life drastically for the worse. This in turn helps to interpret "This Is Water" lessons of awareness and self-improvement because Mathilde represents what Wallace believes is wrong with society. She never understands the extent of her problems and that in turn hurts her. Although she is later able to improve herself from the experience it is far too late and it should have begun before she lost the necklace. David in turn wants people to people to become aware and constantly improving, as this will help your life in the later years instead of waiting too late and harming it like Mathilde. Overall, "The Necklace" was a good reading to understand better in order to interpret "This Is Water.

