Unit 1

The authors in Unit 1 all write of a common theme. Each story features protagonists of low socioeconomic standing, all enamored with the lives of the rich. They attempt to climb the social ladder in order to have what they perceive to be a better life, but those plans backfire, leaving them with less than what they started with.

The Necklace

Guy de Maupassant

Mathilde was a woman dissatisfied with her life. Though she had a loving husband, charm, and naturally beautiful features, she longed for more. "She was one of those pretty and charming girls who are sometimes, as if by a mistake of destiny, born into a family of clerks" (543). Mathilde was unhappy because she desired to be wealthy and clad in designer clothing, but instead came from humble beginnings and married a clerk. "She suffered ceaselessly, feeling herself born for all the delicacies and all the luxuries" (534). When her husband pulled numerous strings for her invitation to an exquisite ball, she grew even more upset, because she had nothing to wear. Her husband, ever loving and accommodating, gave her an exorbitant sum of money for a dress, yet she was still not satisfied. She complained, "It annoys me not to have a single jewel, not a single stone, nothing to put on. I shall look like distress. I should almost rather not go at all" (544). Go, however, she does, thanks to a borrowed necklace from a friend. She was the belle of the ball, and aqcuired numerous admirers. "She was prettier than them all, elegant, gracious, smiling, and crazy with joy" (545). It would seem that she had finally gotten that happy ending, until she realized that the necklace she borrowed had gone missing. It was perceived to be a necklace made of fine diamonds, and Mathilde and her husband secretly replaced the necklace, taking out excessive loans to do so. Mathilde worked for ten years to pay for one night among the rich and powerful. She paid for it in more than labor. "Mme. Loisel looked old now. She had become the woman of impoverished households - strong and hard and rough" (547). Ironically enough, when she told her friend of her hardships, her friend admitted that the necklace was fake, rendering her descent into poverty and ugliness unneccessary. The price she paid for wanting it all was a life worse than what she already had. Mathilde lived in a fantasy before she attended that ball, and for one night, all of her dreams came true. That same night, her world came crashing down, and she wasted her youth, beauty, and time to pay for her brush with wealth, when she could have instead learned to appreciate what she already had.

Balthazar's Marvelous Afternoon

Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Balthazar was a poor carpenter who made birdcages for a living. He never thought of his cages as anything special, as he was so used to his craft. The town, however, felt differently about his latest cage. "Balthazar hung it under the eave, from force of habit, and when he finished lunch everyone was already saying that it was the most beautiful cage in the world" (278). Balthazar was a humble man, and did not charge nearly enough for his work. When his live-in girlfriend, Ursula, asked him how much he would charge for his masterpiece, he replied, "I'm going to ask for thirty pesos to see if they'll give me twenty" (279). Ursula decided he should try for sixty. He received an offer from a doctor for the cage, but he wanted to sell it to Montiel, whom he perceived to be the richest. Balthazar claimed that Montiel's son Pepe ordered it. Montiel refused to buy it, chastising Balthazar. "But you should have consulted me before going on. Only to you would it occur to contract with a minor" (281). Balthazar decided to give the cage to Pepe as a gift after Pepe threw a tantrum, claiming that he "made it expressly as a gift for Pepe" (282). Balthazar didn't consider this gesture to be important, but when he emerged from Montiel's house, he had a cheering crowd waiting for him in the pool hall. "But then he realized that all of this had a certain importance for many people, and he felt a little excited" (282). Because of this newfound feeling of importance, he lied to the people, claiming that he received sixty pesos. For the first time, he recklessly spent everything he had in order to get drunk and live for a day the way people with money did. He began to brag, saying, "We have to make a lot of things to sell to the rich before they die" (282). Though never interested before, the thought of money and a higher status made him happy, if only for a few hours. "He had spent so much that he had had to leave his watch in pawn, with the promise to pay the next day. A moment later, spread-eagled in the street, he realized that his shoes were being taken off, but he didn't want to abandon the happiest dream of his life" (283). Balthazar's debt, the theft of his shoes, and the beautiful birdcage given away for no profit culminated as the price that he paid for the one time he tried to climb up the ladder. He was left with less than what he had before, when he was only a humble carpenter.

Another Holiday for the Prince

Elizabeth Jolley

The narrator of this story was a girl with a poor, hardworking mother and a sullen, lazy brother whom his mother referred to as "The Prince." The family cleaned the house of Mrs. Lady, a rich woman who was often away on her boat. The mother was seemingly a woman who loved to work. She said, "Everyone's got to work at some time or other, it's best to like it" (408). It was revealed, however, that working at that house gave her a sort of escape into a life that was not hers, when she said, "and where else could I have an avocado pear with my cocoa" (408). This was the first hint that working at the house of a rich woman fed into her fantasy life. The fact that she called her lazy son "The Prince" also suggested that she longed to be a high born lady. After the day of work was over, the mother announced that Mrs. Lady had given her money and the keys to her car so that the family could take a weekend trip. The narrator was ecstatic, while "The Prince" was still not happy. They stayed in a motel by the sea with better accommodations than they were used to. By the end, the mother finally convinced "The Prince" to enjoy the seaside with her. "I don't think I've ever seen her so happy," said the narrator (410). The perfect weekend of living the life of the rich came to a halt quickly, though. As they were driving back, the police pulled the car over. It turned out that not only was the car and money stolen from Mrs. Lady, but the mother was a serial thief. "You don't vary in your sort of crimes do you Missis" (410). The price she paid for her fantasy weekend was jail time and the loss of her kids, and all for one weekend by the sea. However, she seemed to be more distraught about the prison lifestyle than she did about losing her children. "Mother cried when she knew she had to go to gaol, she never could stand unbleached calico next to her skin she said" (411). Even after losing everything, she was still consumed with her wealthy fantasy life.