Comparison Of The Necklace And The Necklace

Throughout a normal human life one is bound to make a selfish decision or two. In the short story “The Necklace” by Guy de Maupassant, Madame Loisel borrows a expensive necklace from her friend only to lose it and spend years of her life repaying the debt. In “The Scarlet Ibis” by James Hurst, Doodle and his brother spend many months trying to help Doodle walk and be more like the normal kids, but end up making a major mistake. Both “The Necklace” and “The Scarlet Ibis” show that being selfish can lead to unforeseen and negative consequences. “The Necklace” begins with Madame Loisel depressed with her low class in life. “She grieved over the shabbiness of her apartment, the dinginess of the walls, the worn out appearance of the chairs, the

“I wanted more then anything else someone to race to Horsehead Landing, someone to box with, and someone to perch with in the top fork of the great pine behind the barn”(Hurst, 317). This shows how desperate Brother is to have a buddy to play with. Instead, his younger brother, Doodle, was found to be a very sensitive and challenged boy who couldn't manage to actually do much. “He was a burden in many ways….To discourage his coming with me, I’d run with him across the ends of the cotton rows and careen him around corners on two wheels”(Hurst, 317). This showed that he didn't care that Doodle happened to be born disabled, he just wanted to be alone or with someone more his speed. This relates back to my thesis because it shows that he is selfishly putting his brother in danger only because he doesn't want to deal with

“When Doodle was five years old, I was embarrassed at having a brother of that age who couldn't walk, so I set out to teach him”(Hurst, 318). This quote continues to support my thesis because he tries to dangerously teach Doodle to be normal just because he wants a ordinary brother. In the short term, this worked out for him, but his disregarding of his brothers safety would soon come back to hurt him. One day when they were out practicing, a storm began to develop. Brother, thinking only of himself, ran as fast as he could, leaving poor helpless Doodle behind. Later he comes back to get Doodle after running away. “Limply, he fell backward onto the earth. He had been bleeding from his mouth, and the neck and the front of his shirt were stained a brilliant red”(Hurst, 323). This quote shows that Doodle could not survive the storm by himself, dying as his brother ran away from him. This supports my thesis because it showed that being selfish caused him to leave Doodle behind to die, forever altering his life for the worse. In the two short stories “The Scarlet Ibis” and “The Necklace”, we are reminded that being a self-centered human can lead to problems we never even considered could happen. Seeing how easily this can happen, trying not to be selfish may prove to be a better way to get through