"The Necklace" by Guy de Maupassant is a story of sorrow. Mathilde is unhappy because she believes she deserves expensive jewelry, fancy dinners, and ample attention, all of which her husband cannot provide. Not until her and her husband go into poverty does she realize how much worse her life could be. Maupassant tells this story of an unappreciative girl who loses everything to express the theme that people should always be grateful. There are two paragraphs towards the end of the story which portray this theme perfectly. These paragraphs describe Mathilde during her new life as she scrubs floors and dreams of a ball where she was young and beautiful. This passage uses various literary elements to display the theme of the story. Descriptive language is used to give powerful imagery. The narrator expresses the deep thoughts of Mathilde to characterize her. Multiple types of sentence structures make the story interesting and to show the pain Mathilde goes through. This passage is one of the key parts of the story where Maupassant displays his theme that gratitude is important.

Maupassant uses descriptive language to paint an image of sorrow in the reader's mind. He states in the first paragraph of this passage, "With frowsy hair, skirts askew, and red hands, she talked loud while washing the floor with great swishes of water." (Maupassant, 38) At one point in her life, Mathilde believed that she deserved to be treated like a princess. She was miserable because of the old chairs in her house and the way the curtains looked. Mathilde craved a life of luxury and importance. However, this quote describes her as a simple working woman who now has to mop floors just to make ends meet. This imagery shows why the theme of the story is important. Mathilde considered her life miserable and unjust, and she was not grateful for what she had. Then, she loses everything and finally realizes how lucky she was. This detailed description from Mathilde's point of view demonstrates to the reader why gratitude is so important.

This passage also goes into the thoughts of Mathilde to characterize her and the change she went through. " she thought of that gay evening of long ago, of that ball where she had been so beautiful and feted. What would have happened if she had not lost the necklace?" (38) This quote is ironic because it is her recollection of being attractive and sought after, but she does not realize how blessed she was until she becomes ugly and poor. This view of Mathilde's thoughts gives the reader a glimpse of what it is like to be miserable and hopeless. In this case, the reader sees why it was foolish of Mathilde to be ungrateful for so long. The final thought that the narrator states is "How little a thing is needed for us to be lost or to be saved!" (38) The narrator mentions that small things can be the ones that save us. This is implying that the narrator believes that Mathilde losing the necklace actually saved her because it taught her to be appreciative of what she has. The author, however, does not mention if Mathilde is actually happier in her current state. In the beginning of the story she was miserable, and after becoming poor, she is still miserable. Thus, we do not know how the change of lifestyles affected Mathilde's overall happiness. This characterization shows why gratitude is important. It is not until Mathilde is old and poor that she looks back on her old life and realizes how blessed she was. 

The first paragraph uses a variety of writing styles. The first few sentences use short, repetitive descriptions to describe Mathilde after she becomes poor. This repetition displays the monotony of her new life. However, the last sentence is long and flowing. It has many parts and it describes the sadness Mathilde feels as she reminisces on the ball. The extensive detail in this sentence suggest that she deeply wishes she could go back to that night which she took for granted. This style is elaborate because the paragraph changes from being short descriptions of her life in poverty to a long depiction of her sadness while she thinks of the past. 

The first paragraph uses multiple sentence structures to describe Mathilde's new life. The second paragraph is an inner dialogue which is made of only short, simple questions. This change in style could symbolize the contrasting feelings in this story. At the beginning, Mathilde is unhappy with her husband and lifestyle. However, once she is poor, she wants nothing more than to have her old life back. Just like Mathilde's attitude changes, so does the writing style.

The second paragraph is shorter and uses a more straightforward writing style. The sentences are short and simple. It can be assumed that the ideas in this paragraph are the thoughts of Mathilde as she reflects on her life. She wonders how things would be different if she had not lost the necklace. "Who knows? Who knows?" (38) she states. The repetition of this question shows that Mathilde often wishes she could change the past. 

Maupassant wrote this story to show the importance of gratitude. The last two paragraphs on were excellent examples of this. This passage gives a detailed description of Mathilde's new life and how unhappy she is. The narrator characterizes Mathilde by showing her reflections on everything that has happened to her. These reflections are the only time the reader gets to hear Mathilde's thoughts on her life. Throughout this passage, the reader can assume that Mathilde has finally learned the importance of gratitude. When she reminisces back to the ball where she was so happy, Mathilde realizes that she should have always appreciated what she had.

