Literary analysis essay (1200 words).

G(JY DE MAUPASSANT The Jewelry 6S5

"She won't leav(' me alom•~-yoi, won't foavc me alone." Norma Jean seems to 1ss be crying, bul she is looking away from him. "I foci ctghlc..'en again. I can't face that all over again." She starts walking away. "No, iL wasn't fine. I don't know what J'm saying. Forget 'll."

L<>.roy takes a lungful of smok<~ and closes his cy<1s as Norma Jeans words sink in. He tries Lo focus on t.hc fact that thirty-five hundred soldiers died on the grounds around him. I le CJ.in only think of that war as a board game wllh plasUc soldiers. Leroy almost smHes1 as he compares the Confcdc·mt-es' daring attack on the Union camps and Virgtl Mathis's raid on the hm.~ling aHey. General Grant, drunk and furious, shoved the Southerners back lo Corinth, where Mabel and Jet Beasley were married years lat<.'r, when Mabd was still thin and p,oo<l-looklng. TI1e next day, Mabel and Jet v1sltcd the battlegrou nd, arid Lhcn Norma Jean was born, and lhcn she married Leroy and they had a baby,, which they lost, a nd now Leroy and Norma Jean are here at the sam(' battleground. Leroy knows he Is lcavtng out a lot I le Is leaving out the Insides of hlsi.ory. I listory was alv,·ays Just names and dates Lo him. It occurs Lo him thaL bu;Jd tng a hou$e out of logs is similarly empty-too simple. And the real inner workings of a marriage, like most of history, have es('.aped him. Now he sees thal bulldtni:i, a log house ls th<.~ dumbest idea he could have had. 1t was clumsy of hlm to think Norma Jean would want a log house. IL was a crazy idea. I lc' ll have to think of somet hing else, quickly. He w1l1 wad the blucprlnls I nlo light balls ,and Ill ng them inlo the lake. Then hell get moving again. I le opens his <.~yes. Norma Jean has moved away and is walking through the cemetery, following a serp<:~nt'lnc t,rick path.

Leroy gets up Lo follow his wife, but his good k-g js asleep 3ml his bad leg sti ll hurts him. Norma Jean is fa r away, walking rnpidly loward the bluff by t.hc river, and he tries to hobble toward her. Some children run past fl1 rn , scn~amlnj!; nois- ily. Norma Jean has reached the bluff, and she is lopki ng out over tht~ Tcnn('ssoo H1ver. Now she turns toward Leroy and waves her arms. Is she bcckonln~ lo him? She seems to be doing an exercise for her chest musdes. Tht~ sky 1s, u11usu~ ' ally pale- the color of the dust ruffle Mahd made for their bed.

GU Y 0£ MAUPASSANT (1850 - 93)

The Jewelry1

1982

Born I fonri Bene Albert in Nonnanq.y, l;ran-ce, Mau- passant was expelled at sixlecin from a Houcn semi- nar)' and linlshr.d his <!ducation at a public.' high !Khoo I. Af tcr serving in the I ;mnco-Prussian War, he workt<l as ~• ~OV·Crtuncnt clerk in Paris fur ten years.

, , ~\ pr<>IC$;!C of Flaubert , lw puhlisheJ durin~ 11,c J~80s some Lhroc hundred ~tm·ics, hair a doi m, novcit~, i1nd pl11ys. ·n,e shor1 stories, which appcarccl rcgu[arly in p(;pu'lar pc ricxlkals, ~arnpled military a n<l peasant life, the clt'.t·mlt·nl world or pol11 k-1, und joumaH:.m, prn,.lif utinn, the su[>\irnatural, an<l tlw hypc.x·-

I. 'lrun,;lal<:d l~y l.11frJ1r.liu I lr~m.

6S6 HF.: AOING MORl•: l~.ICTION

risies of solid citizens; with Chekhov, Maupas.,c;anl may be sai<l 10 have creat~ the mod· em short story. I· lis life ended somewhat. like one of his <>'wn storic.~: 11,e died or syphilis in .an asylum. His novels include Une Vw {A l .ife, 1883), Hd Anii (Handsome Fr;end, 1885), and Piern! et ]ea•1 (1888).

H avtng met the gtrl one evening, at the house of the oHicc"supcrlntcnd<.~nL, M. Lantin became enveloped in love as in a ncL She was the daughter of a country•tulor, who ha<l been dead for several years.

Afterward she had come to Paris wlth her mother, who made regular vls1t.s to several bourgeois families of the neighborhood, in hopes of being able to get her daughter married. They were poor and respect.able, <1u~et and gentle. The younp; girl seemed to be the very ideal of lhat pure good woman to whom every younF, man dreams of entrusung hJs fut urc. [ lcr mockst h<>aul y had a charm of angclk shyness; and the slight smile that always dwdt about lwr lips sc·cmcd a rcn~c- t1on of her heart.

Everybody sang her praises; all who knt~w her kept saying: '"l11e man who ., gets her will be lucky. No one could find .a nicer girl than (h;i.t."l

M. Lantin, who was then chief cle!rk in Lhc office of lhc Mi nister of the lnte- rlor, with a salary of 3,500 francs a year/ demanded her hand, and married her.

5 He was unutterably happy wJth her. She ruled h~s home with an economy so adroit that they really seemed lo live in luxury. lt would be impossible to con- ceive of any atte ntions, tcn<lcrncsscs, playful l:arcsses which she <lid not lavish upon her husband; and such was the charm of her per!.on thHt, six years aft.t~r he married her, he loved her even more than he did lh<.~ first day.

There were only two poinls upon which he ever found fault with her- her love of the theater, and her passion for false Jt•wclry.

lier lady-friends (she was acquainted with the wtws of St.>Vl~ral small ofl1cc holders) were alwa)'S bringing her tickets for the theaters; whenever there was a performance that made a sensation, she always had her lvge sccurc.·d, cv<."n for first performances; and she would dmg h<'r husband wtth her to all thes<.~ enter• Lainments, which us0d to tire him horrihly after his <lay's work. So al last he begged her Lo go lo the lhcatcr with some lady-acquaintances who would con- sent lo see her home afterward . She refused for quue a whllc- lhlnktng il would not look very well to go out thus urrnccompank<l by her husband. But Hnally sJ1t~ yielded1 ju.s't to please him ; and he felt inrinilcly j?_ralef ul lo her Lhc•reforc.

Now this passion fot th<.• tli<.'atcr at lasl cvoke<l 1n her the desire of dress. It was true that her tollell<' fl~m~ilnc.~d ~lmpk\ always In good taste, but modest; and her swool gr~tcc\ li er irrcslsul,lc p,n•c~\ ev()r smiling and shy. seemed to take rrush charm from the simpikily ofl,hcr robes. Hut she gol into the habit of sus- pending In h<.~r rm•tty cars two bl~ t~ul pebhles, fashioned In tmltaUun of dla- monds; and shi~ wore rwcklnces ol' false p<•arls, bmcclets of false p,o1<l, and huircombs studded with pastc>-imih1lions o[ precious stones.

} lcr husband, who [dt sbo<:ked hy this love of tinsel Hn<l show, \,vould often say- "'My dear, when orw has not lhe rrwa ns lo afford real J<'wr lry, one should

2. Midlevd hure:iucr.alic V.'3~, (>t.'Th:tps :tl10ut $30,000 tu $40,000 tci<ia)'·

GUY OF. MAU PAS SANT The Jewalry 657

appear adorned with one's natuml beauty and grace only,--.. and these ,glfts arc the rarest of jewels."

But she would smile sweetly and answer: "What docs il maltcr? I like those ,o things-that ls my little whim. I know you Hre rJ~hl; but one can't mak<· oneself over aga.tn. I've always loved Jewelry so mucht

And then she would roll Lhc pearls of the ncck,aces between her fingers, and make the facets of the cut crystals flash in the hght1 rep<."ating: "Now look at them-see how well the work Is done. You woukl swenr it was real Jewelry."

He would then smile in his turn, and dcckm.~ Lr;> heir~ "You have the tast(~s of a regular Gypsy."

Sometimes, in the evening, when they w<.~rc having a chal by lhc tire, stw would rise and fetch the morocco box ln which sh<! kept !wr "stock" (as M. I .an• tin called it)- would put it on the Lea-table, a nd begin lo C'.xaminc the false jewelry with passionate delight, as 1f sh<' experienced some secrd and mysl<~ri • ous sensations of pleasure In their conwmplat.iont and she would Insist on put~ ling one of the necklaces round her husband's ~eek, and .\augh UH shC' couldn't laugh any more, crying oul: "Oh! how fun ny you look!" Then she would rush into his arms, and ktss him furiously.

One w1•nter's nfght, after she had bc.~cn to l'he Opt•ra, she came honw ,:hilk·d through, and trembling. Next day she had a bad cough. Ei~ht days after that, she dJed of pneumonia.

Lantln was very nearly following her lnlo the tomb. l·lis <k·spalr was so fright~ •~ fu1 that in one single month his hajr turn<-?<! white. I h! wept from mornfng till night, feeling his heart Lorn by inexpressible suffering- ever haunted by the memory of her, by the smile, by lhe voice, by all Lhc churrn of the dead woman.

Time did not assuage his grief. Of u~n du rlng office houl'$ his fcllow ~derks went off Lo a corner lo chat about this or that topic of the day- his cheeks might have O<X~n sren to swell up all of a sudden, ht.s nos<> wrinkle, his eyes fiJI wll.h water- he wou ld pull a fr1,ghtful face, and b<~gln to sob.

Uc had kept his de~d companion's room Ju.sL in the ordN she had loft ll, and he usc.?d to lock himsl'lf up in 'il every evening to think about her- all the furniture, anti even all hc•r dresses, remtdne<l tn the same place~ they had b<..'t'n on the last day of her II f'c.•.

But lil'c becnmc hard for him. Mis salury, which, in his wile's hands, had amply sufficed .for all household nl'OOs, now proved scarcely suffident to supply bls own few wanls. And lw asked himself tn astonishment how she had man- aged alw.ays lo furn fsh him wuh (ixcdlcnl wines and wtth dellcat.<! caUng which he could not now afford at nll with his scanty means.

He.· got a lluk• lnlo debt, likl· men oblt~ed to live by their wUs. At last one rniornlng that ht~ happenl~d to rind hhnsdf without a cent .In his pocket. and a whole week lo wait before he could drnw his monlhly salary, he thought of sell- ing, something,; and almost lmmc.,-dtuldy It ol'currcd to him to sell his ·wifc·s "stock"- for he had always borne a secret grudge ajl;atnsl tlw Oash•Jcw~!lry that used to annoy him so much in forml?r days. The mere sight of it, -day afLer day, somewhat sporled the sad pleasure of thinking of his darling.

He tried a long time to make a choice among the heap of t rinkets she ha<l lcft 20 behind her- for up to the very last day of her life she had kcpl obstinately buy- ing Lhcm , bringing home some new thing almost every night- and finally he

tS8 REAOJNG MORE FICTION

resolved to take the big pearl necklace which sht" us<.'d 10 filkc the best of aJI, and which he thought ought ccrlai nly Lo be worth six or ci~hl francs, as il was really very nicely mounted for an imitation ncckfocc.

He put it in his pocket, and walked toward the office, foUowlng the boule- vards, and looktng for some Jewcfry~slore on tlw way, wfl<'rc he couJd <-mlcr wtdl confidence.

Finally he saw a place and went Jn; fodtng a ltu]e ashamed of thus exposing his mJseJY, and of trying to sell such a trfOing object.

11 "Sir," he said to the jeweler, "picas~ tell me what this is worth. The jeweler took Lhc necklace, examined it, weighed il, look up a magnifying

glass, called his derk, talked to him in whispers, pul down the nt!tklac<• on th<· counter, and drew back a little bu to Judge of its cffoct Hl a dtstance.

25 M. Lantin, feeling very much embarrassed by nil these ceremonies, op<>ncd his mouth and began to dedarc-"Oh! J know It cun

1

t be worth much" . .. when the jeweler I nterruptcd him sayln~r

"Well, sir, that is worth between twelve' and rifttwn Lhousand francs; but I cannot buy it unless you can let me know exactly how you came by it.''

The widower's eyes opened cn.ormous.ly, :md he stoou iapln~ unabk· to understand. Then after a while h,~ swmmcred oul ; "You said? ... Arc you sun.,?" The jeweler, misconstruing the cause of this astonishment, r<'plicd in a dry lone- "Go elsewhere If you like, and sec lf you can gel any mor<· for IL TJw VNY most I would give for It Is fifteen thousand. Come.• back and stx~ mti a~tn, If you can't do better."

M . Lanlin, feeling perfectly idiotic, look his necklace and departed; obeying a confused desire to fin<l himself alone and lo ~et a chance to think.

But 1hc moment he found himself In 1hc strc<'t again, fw began to laugh, and he mullc rcd lo himself: "The fool!-oh! what a fool; If I had only ta ken h im at his word. Well, well!- a jt'wcler who can't tdl paste from .real Jewdry!"

10 And he cnLN<xl anoth<.~r Jewelry-store, at the conwr of Lfw Bu(' d(• la Pafx. The moment the j<'wdc•r set eyes on the necklace\ he exa mtn<•d- ~I lcllo! I know that necklace well- it was sold herd"

M. LanU n, very n<•rvous, asked: ''What's It worth?" "Sir, I sold it for t wcnl y-rivc thousand francs. I am willing Lo buy il back

again for dghtl'cn thousand- If you can prove to me satisfactorily, accorcfln~ to l('gal pr('sclpllons, how you crtm<' Into posS<.•~lon of lt."- Thts time, M. Lantln was simply parnly:t<.'<I wllh astonlshmPnl . '1(? s~11d: "" 'di ... but please look .tl it agajn, sir. J always thou~ht until now that it was ... was false• ."

Th<' Jewel<.'r salt!: :1s "\.\/1II you give nw your na,n(', sir?"

"Certainly. M)' name is l..antin; 1 am employed al the office of the Minister of !he Jnterlor. I liV<' at No. 16, Hue des Martyrs."

f11e merchant opcn<><l the r<'glster, looked, and s.-11d: ''Yes; Lhls necklace was sent lo the addn~ss of' Madame Lanlln, 16 Hue des Marl)'rs, on July 20th, 1876 ."

And the two men looked into each other's eyes- the clerk wild with sur- prise; the Jeweler suspecting he had a thief before him.

The Je weler resumed:

·GUY DI~ MA'VPASSANT The Jewelry ht;9

"\MU you be kind enough to leave this artldc heie for twentyrfour hours .io only-I'll gi\1e you a rc.\Cc1pt." · 1 •

M. LanUn stuttered: "Yes - ah! certainly." And he went out folding up . the recelpl 1 which he put j n his pocket. .

'Ilwn he crossed the street, went the wrong way, found oul his mistake, returned by way of the Tuilcrtcs, crossed the, Seine foancl out he had taken the wrong road again, and went back tu the Champs-f1lysees without being alJle to get one clear ldea inlo his head. I le tr1ed to r~tSOtl, to understand. Jlts wtfo could never have bought so valuable an ohjc~l as that. Cer"4-iinly nroL But 11,.hcn, it must have been a present! . . . A present from whom? Whal for?

He slopped and stood stock•sllll in the middle of the avt~rmc. A horrible suspicion swept across his mJnd .. •I· 8fw7 . .. But then a 11 those

other pieces of jewelry must have been presents also,! . . , Then it. seemed Lo htm that the ground was heaving under his feet~ thal a tree, right In front of him, was faJllng toward him; he thrust oui h~s arms lnsUncUvely, and foll senseless.

He recovered his consciousness again in a drug-store lo '"'hich some bysLand- 4 'i ers had carried him. He had them leHd hirfil bomc, fl,r~d he lot:kcJ himself Into his room.

Until nightfall he cried without sloppi~g, biting his handkerchief lo keep himself from screaming out. Then, complctdy ,.vo:rn out with grid a"'d fatigue, he went to bed. and slept a Jcadcn sleep ..

A ray of sunshine awakened him> and he rose and dressed himself slowly lo go to the office. It was hard to have Lo work af Lcr such n shock. Then he refl<·clc-d that he mtght be ab]e to excuse hlmscU to the superintt~ndenE, and he wrote to htm. Then he remembered he would have to go back to tht• jew<.'llit's; and shame made his face purple. I-le remained thinking a long limo. Still he could nol leave the necklave there; he put on his eoal anu W<.'nt out

It was a fine <lay; the sky extended al l blue ovc!r the dty. an<l ~er.~med to make it smile. Stroffors were walkinR aimfossty about, with th~ir hands in their pockets.

LanUn thought as he watched them passing: ca l fow lucky the men are who have fortunes! \i\/Uh money a man can rv<.~n shake ofr grJcf--you t:an go where you please-.;-travcl- amuse yoursdf! Oh! if I were only rkhr'

He suddenl.y <llscovcrit-<l hl' was huniry- nol having eulen anything s1nce so the <.wenlng hdo~. Out his pockets wert~ empty; and he remembered tlw neck- lace. Etghto<'o lhou$and francs! Hl~ll(ien thousand f mncs!- lhat was a sum- that was!

I l e made Ids way lo the• Hue de Ju Paix and L>ewin to walk backward and for- ward on thti stllewal~ ln 1 fronl of 1he st.ore. Eighteen t.housand francs! ·n"'·ent y Limes he started lo go in; hut shame ah•vays kept him back.

Still he was hu,n~ry- very hungry- mad had nut a cent. He made one brusque n.~solve, and crossed the stre:t.·t almost at a run, so os .not to let himself have time lo think over the matter; .and he rushed lnlo the jcwdt.!r's.

As soon as he SiJW him , the merchant hurried forward, a nd offere d him a chair with smiling politeness. Ev<.'n the dcrks came forwa rd to stare at Lanlln, with gaiety In their ey~.s and smiles about t.hdr lips.

660 READING MOHE FICTION

The Jeweler satd: ··sir, I made Inquiries; and If you arc still so disposed, .I am ready to pay you down Lhe price> r offered you.'' ,

55 The clerk slammercd: '"Vlhy, yes-sir, certainly." The J<.~wdcr took from a drawer eighLccn hi~ btlls,1 cOLmtcd them. and held

them out to Lantln, who signed a l111lc receipt., and t.hmst tll<~ money feverishly inlo his pocket.

Then, as he was on the poi nt of leaving., he t um<•<l to lhe ever-smiling merM chant. and said, lowering his eyes: "I lJHVC some uu- 1 luwe some other Jewdry, which came lo me in the same--from the ~'un ci ~n hcritance. \,Vou1d you pur- chase them also from me?''

The men.~hant bowed, and answered: 44 Why, cerlalnly, slr- cert.ainly . . . .'' One of the clerks rushed oul to laugh at l11s eas<\; ~nolher kepi' blowing his nose as hard as he could.

Lant1n, impassive, flushed and serious, said: "l wdl hr-Ing them lo you." 60 And he hired a cab lo get the jewd ry.

When he returned to the store, an hour lalcr, ho h .. 1d not )'(?t hrcakfastecl. They examined the jewclr)r-piccc by piece- pull ing a •.ialue on each. Nearly all had been purchased from thal very house.

Lanun. now, disputed esumal.cs made, iPl angry. Insisted on $ee1n~ the books, and talked louder and louder the higher t he cslimatcs gr~·.

The big diamond earrings were worth 20,000 frnncs; the bmcclets, 35,000; the brooches, rJngs and mcda11Jons, 16,000; a set of emeralds and sapphire.~'>, 14,000; solitaire, suspended lo a gold nnckcha in, 40,000; th<' iotal valm~ h(~in~ estimated at 196,000 francs.

The merchant observed with mlschicvuus 1?.ood nat u I"<.' : "'I 'he person who owned these must have put all her savings Into Jt.!wdry.''

6i LanLin answered with gravily: .. Perhaps thal is as good a way of saving money as any other." And he went off, after havin!?. agreed with the merchant that an expert should mak(~ a counlcr•esUmatc for him the next <lay.

When he found himself in lhc street again, he looked al the Column Vcnd6me4 wilh the desire Lo climb il, as if it wcro a May pole. I le fdt jolly enough to play leapfrog 0\1er the EmJ){?ror's head up I hew In the blul~ sky.

He breakfasted at Voisin'sc; restaurant, and orden~ win<• at 20 francs a bottle?.

Tht•n h~~ h~red a cab 1rnd drove oul lo the Bols.6 He looked at lhc.· l'arrlu~t'S passln~ with a sort of ~ontcmpl. and a wild dt.?Slr<> to ydl out to the passcrs•by: "I am rich, ton- I am! i hav(1 200,000 fmncs!"

The recolJC'ctjon of thl' ofHcc suddenly CJJme back lo him. l le drove there, walked right tnlQ lht~ supt~rro~lmden t's prlvah.• room. and said: ''Sir, I come to give you my f(~si~rrnUon. I havt~ Just come 1nto a fo rtune of diree hundred thou - sand francs." Then hci shook hands all round with his follow-clerks; nnd told them an ahoul hls plans for i• new l'-clrt.~l'r. Th<.'n he wenl to dinner at th e- Cafe Anglals.

:3 . Fr<!nch. p:rper money y11 r it":li in 11i:r:c; th1.• larger the bill, the la rger the denomination. 4. Fumoui; culunm with 11 sCulm• of Lia(• emperor Nn1ml<-un ut. d,c rot'· 5. Lik~ the- Cuf~ A11ilai$ bclvw, "~di-known 1md high•ptkcd re~taurunt. 6. I .arJ:C' P:rrisi.1n p.:arlc wh(!ft' the rwh look thi..-ir outint:s,