Final Timed-writing

06300110092
Linda Liu
June 21, 2007
Final-timed writing

From The Necklace, what might have been the quality of Mme Loisel’s life if she had not lost the necklace? If her life better or worse now?

Life is like a flowing river that goes ever on and on, for there is no way you can modify or revise it after all that has happened. However, the magic of literature has enabled us to contrive various possibilities for the character we have created. So what if Mme Loisel had not lost the necklace?

She might still live in agony. The ecstasy she got from that glorious night could only save her from the agony for one moment, after which a strong feeling of lost would ensue. Neither would she cease the agony, nor find a truce with the vanity that had already rooted in her character and prevented her from a peaceful mind, for the agony stemmed from the great chasm between what she aspired for—an exquisite life style, and what was facing her—the rather disappointing reality. But why could not she endeavor to pursue her dream instead of moaning the reality? For however strong-minded she is, never could she reach beyond the horizon which has already been set by the society she lived in. We have to admit that when facing this reality, efforts from one individual seem so trivial.

Then what about her life now? After the toil and moil in all these ten years, I think Mme Loisel had found a real sense of peace in mind. No matter what kinds of life one lead, one of the crucial things in a good life is a peaceful mind. To my opinion, it can even out-weigh the material enjoyment. In this sense, the life she lives now is better. Ten years of hard work is hash for such a beautiful lady, but it is well enough to dissipate the vanity that had been haunting Mme Loisel. Someone might argue that the tragedy of Mme Loisel’ life lies in the fact that she lost her dream of living a better life, but why can not us think in this way—if this dream is unrealistic or even harmful, isn’t it better to give it up and learn to appreciate what one has got?