What is the charm of a diamond necklace? It neither provides warmth like a scarf on a windy winter day nor supports the neck like a pillow. In contrast, the chance of catching a cold while wearing a diamond necklace in the winter is quite high; or, the weight of a luxurious diamond necklace can cause neck pain. It only decorates. However, to Mathilde Loisel, a diamond necklace does not only decorate her outlook, but also fulfills her gloomy soul for just one night. In his short story "The Necklace", Guy de Maupassant illustrates the destructive capacity of greed and deception through characterization, alliteration, irony, and symbolism. 

Throughout "The Necklace", Maupassant uses diction to create different tones to describe the character of Mathilde Loisel. Born in a clerk family and married to a little clerk, beautiful Mathilde is unpleased with her life. Believing that she should have been born for "all the delicacies and all the luxuries" (33), such proper station does not satisfy her greed. Unlike her kind husband, all she cares about is herself. He sets a cynical tone by using words such as "suffered," "poverty," "wretched," "ugliness," "tortured" and "angry"; Maupassant uses this negatively connotative word choice to demonstrate how ungrateful Mathilde is (33-36). She cannot visit her wealthy friend, Madame Forestier, without being overcome by jealous; and the thought of going to a fancy ball without a pretty dress drives her to tears, "'No; there's nothing more humiliating than to look poor among other women who are rich.'" (35). The sense of failures adds to her feelings of inferiority. The perspective of the women during that time is expressed through this character: women were considered as objects instead of human; they were judged by their grace, beauty, and charm. The deceptiveness of appearances makes Madame Loisel believe that her beauty makes her worthy of greater things and she can go to any extent to get her desires fulfilled.

Maupassant also uses alliteration to describe Madame Loisel's fantasies. Mathilde's greed for others belongings are all shown through alliteration such as "dainty dinner", "shining silverware", "fairy forest", "delicious dishes" (33). By using alliteration, Maupassant draws the reader's attention to Mathilde's many fantasies of her being in a higher class. Mathilde's line, '"Nothing. Only I have no dress, and therefore I can't go to this ball. Give your card to some colleague whose wife is better equipped than I'" (34) indicates her greediness. She talks rudely to her husband when he tells her about the ball only because she wants a new dress. Afterward, she gets herself a dress but that is not enough; now, she needs jewelry! She keeps whining to her husband, "'I shall look like distress. I should almost rather not go at all.'" (35). As a result, she borrows a diamond necklace from her wealthy friend that she never wants to meet, Madame Forestier, to complete the look for the ball. A greedy heart could only be that simple.

Ironically, Madame Loisel's happiness ends at the moment she finds out that she has lost the necklace. So, the Loisel's borrow money from here and there to find a replacement. Their lives change drastically since they have to work their bones out in ten years to pay the debt from the diamond necklace. Madame Loisel "compromised all the rest of his life", worked day and night to earn as much money as he could; and Madame Loisel gives up her leisurely life to become "the woman of impoverished households", "dressed like a woman of the people" (38). After ten years, sometimes, she still remembers of that glorious night and wonders how her life would be if she had not lost that necklace. She fails to realize that her desire to be someone else ruins her. Despite facing so many problems, Mathilde does not learn anything from her mistakes. Instead of asking her what would have happened if she had not lost the necklace, she should be asking what would have happened if she had not borrowed it.

Nevertheless, is the change bad? If Madame Loisel had not lost the necklace, then she would still be that desperate housewife after that wonderful night, kept herself in the house with optimistic thoughts and did nothing but blaming her fate. Now that she has paid the debt, she appreciates the meaning of life and work more than ever. When she talks to Madame Forestier, "she smiled with a joy which was proud and naive at once" (39), because she actually feels accomplished in her life with her efforts.

Guy de Maupassant draws the reader's attention by creating a situational irony when he reveals the diamond necklace was just a paste. This surprises the reader with an unexpected twist at the end of the story. The necklace also has an irony especially in its conclusion that explains the cost of pride. The irony is that Loisel's work so hard to earn money to replace the misery caused by the necklace, but in reality, it is worth nothing. Mathilde has lost all her natural beauty as a result of doing labor for the necklace. The Loisel's lose much more than money in their struggle to return the necklace. Mathilde never values her natural beauty and mourns when she loses it because she only cares about pride and show off.

In the text, the symbol of the diamond necklace has multiple meanings. First, it is the symbol of wealth as well as Mathilde's mad desires. Secondly, the faux diamond necklace resembles the overrated power of perception. Beneath the glamorous look, the diamond necklace is just an imitation, which parallels to Mathilde: at the end of the day, she is still a clerk's wife in an expensive party dress with some borrowed jewels. Lastly, the necklace also represents the image of the women, back in those day as well as the present. Maupassant stated the image of women during that time as "natural fineness, instinct for what is elegant, suppleness of wit, are the sole hierarchy, and make from women of the people the equals of the very greatest ladies" (33). Women put lots of effort to have good looking appearance, they strive to be beautiful and charming according to the society standards. "How little a thing is needed for us to be lost or to be saved!" (38). Through the necklace symbolism, Maupassant implies that the value does not lie within the objects but within mind. 

In the text "The Necklace", the descriptive language that Maupassant uses is remarkable because it makes the scenes in the story full of life. By using alliteration and symbolism to describe the characters' personalities, Guy de Maupassant has successfully imparted that the value is justified by one's prospect, not the world that everyone lives in. People should appreciate what is given rather than chasing for cliche materials.

