'The Gift of the Magi' by O. Henry and 'The Necklace' by Guy de Maupassant are two short stories that share some similarities. Namely, they are both ironic. The two main characters in both also happen to be husband and wife and make sacrifices for their spouse. The husband in 'The Necklace' is a 'thrifty clerk' who doesn't like to spend too much money. After implored by his wife, he gives her the money that he saved up for a rifle so she could buy a nice dress instead.
But she insisted buying a Christmas present by disposing of her hair. Though she was sad before her hair fell down, "she did it up again nervously and quickly." Though "the brilliant sparkle still in her eyes", for her Jim, she went out to trade off her hair for twenty dollars. "The next tow hours tripped by on rosy wings. She was ransacking the stories for jim's present."
After meeting Zeena Ethan Frome is caught between 2 woman, one that can provide him with love and compassion, and his wife, who he relies on for economic support. In the book, the woman are the ones to make the decisions, and men were usually portrayed as weak. Edith Wharton’s exposure to knowledge about the cruel social status of individuals due to the war during the 1900, and her view of gender roles in society influenced her novella of Ethan Frome and forced it into a naturalistic perspective. The poor economic status of the characters in the novel, and the weak figure of Ethan Frome, leads to the cruel ending of the novel, encouraging the idea that our destiny can not be changes, and that outside forces control our outcome. Edith Wharton included the harsh economic status of Americans during the 1900, by basing her novel on the war.
In Charlie’s conditions, even a rabbit stew or a warm water bath was to be looked forward to on a Saturday night and warmth was from the ‘…pieces of fallen bark’ which he gathers from Mr Peacock. The protagonist was in an unfortunate and dreary state at the start of the novel. The idea of Runner being referred to as a sulky novel is also highlighted by the minor characters that were mentioned. Daisy Maloney, ‘…having lost her husband in the war…’ had to be a prostitute for a living. She must earn money to raise her kids, and with her attractive looks, ‘…she was a popular choice for men ’.
Candy views Curley‟s Wife as inferior and is shown in Crooks‟ room when he says „you let this guy alone, don‟t you do no messin‟ with him,‟ this shows his view the Curley‟s Wife is a tart because when he says „messin‟ around‟ he means flirting which justifys his view on Curley‟s Wife. Candy finally threatens to tell Curley that his wife was in Crooks‟ room, he does this because the view at the time is of women being man‟s possession and by telling Curley it would annoy him and get her in serious trouble, this shows the inferiority of woman in America at the
She looks down on most people and expects the Inspector to treat her with the upmost respect she often treats the Inspector as inferior. Sheila the young pretty daughter, she is for filling her father’s dream of becoming upper-class by marrying an upper-class man Gerald. She is deeply affected by Eva Smith’s death she is initially very naive to suggest that someone can drink disinfectant by accident “Oh- how horrible! Was it an accident?” however later on she shows her own jealousy and bad temper causing Eva Smith to lose he jobs but she always accepts responsibility this reflects Priestley’s faith in the new generation that it will be filled with young socialist caring people who work
The main character Ed Kennedy learns to adopt better qualities of humanity. In one of his missions, he gives a family a warm welcoming Christmas, who is new to the neighborhood because no one has ever come to meet them or help them. Ed decides to “brighten up the Tatupu house this year”(Pg.221) by buying them Christmas lights exactly the same as the old ones and realizes that “It’s not a big thing, but I guess it’s true—big things are often just small things that are noticed”(Pg.221). Ed knows that buying the same lights is not huge and expensive, but he understands that small things are big. Money is not only thing that can make someone happy; it’s the littlest things that can bright up someone’s life, which is what the author shows in I am the Messenger.
Hester deeply loved Pearl and did not want to lose Pearl’s respect. Hester sewed to make money to support herself and Pearl. In the book Hester changes her mind about her sin she see’s her sin as not sinful but she does regret committing it. She worked hard to give clothes and food to the poor to make the townspeople think the scarlet letter stands for able rather then adultery. Her actions of helping the poor causes the towns people to start to think the “A” stands for angel instead of adultery.
The quote shows that even though that Madame Loisel was poor, she and her husband bought Madame Forestier a new necklace to replace the old one. You see the real character in Madame Loisel when she goes through conflict. Madame Loisel changed after that conflict and from there on had better character. In To Kill a Mockingbird, Jem’s character is changed whenever Atticus is confronted by Mr. Cunningham and his “gang”. Jem was currently in a hiding place watching the action whenever he ran over to Atticus when it started getting tense.
Myrtle represents the poor class trying to have a better life; for example, after Myrtle settles in her apartment, she changes her clothes and her personality also changes (30). These changes represent her desire of a higher class and to be socially accepted. Myrtle uses her relationship with Tom as an escape route to her poor life with George, thus, she believes that money and class will give her the happiness she does not have. In another situation, Wolshiem, “the man who fixes the World Series in 1919”(73), represents corruption. When he fixed the World Series, he did not do it on his own; therefore, Wolshiem proves that he is not the only corrupted one, there are more people that help him with his illegal deeds.