(Page 39)
Question 1.
What kind of a person is Mme Loisel and why is she always
unhappy?
Answer:
Mme Loisel is young, pretty, ordinary but
discontented woman. She is of a humble background but dreams of riches and
comforts. She is proud of her beauty and wants to be admired. Her meagre
resources are not enough to satisfy her expensive cravings making her angry
all the time.
Question 2.
What kind of a person is her husband?
Answer:
Her
husband M Loisel, is an ordinary and average young man. A mere clerk by
profession, he is still contented with his job. Also, he is a caring man as he
is excited to show the dinner invitation to his wife.
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Question 3.
What fresh problem now disturbs Mme
Loisel?
Answer:
After spending a fortune on a beautiful dress, Mme
Loisel is
faced with yet another disaster. She frets over the fact that
she does not have a beautiful jewel to go with her dress. So, she asks her
husband to pass on the invitation to someone else.
Question 4.
How is the problem solved?
Answer:
Matilda Loisel’s
husband, M. Loisel, comes to her rescue. First, he suggests her to wear fresh
flowers. Matilda just mocked at the idea. Then, he advises her to borrow some
jewels from her rich friend, Mme Forestier. Thus, the problem is solved as Mme
Forestier lends her a beautiful diamond necklace.
Page 42
Question 5.
What do Mr and Mme Loisel do
next?
Answer:
The Loisels leave no stone unturned. M. Loisel goes
back
and searches to the lost necklace. Then, he goes to the police and
to the cab offices. Also, they put out an advertisement n the newspapers and
offer a reward to anyone who finds :he necklace. But, all their efforts go in
vain.
Question 6.
How do they replace the necklace?
Answer:
After all
other efforts fail, Loisel’s decide to buy a new dentical necklace to replace
the lost one. M. Loisel pooled n eighteen thousand francs of his inheritance
and borrowed :he rest. Then the couple managed to buy the new necklace :or
thirty six thousand francs and returned it to the rightful 0wner.
Think About It
(Page 46)
Question 1.
The course of the Loisel’s life changed due to the necklace.
Comment.
Answer:
It takes Loisels a decade to pay back the money
they borrowed to buy the necklace. And, it changed everything for them. They
had to move to the poorest quarters of the city. With no maids or assistance,
Matilda had to cook, clean, mend, sew, bargain with the grocer and butcher to
save every sou just for mere survival. The husband had to work in the evening
and night to pay their debt. In this way, the course of the Losiel’s life
changed due to the necklace.
Question 2.
What was the cause of Matilda’s ruin? How could she have
avoided it?
Answer:
Matilda’s pride and her materialistic
aspirations coupled with her dishonesty pave the way for her ruin. She could
have avoided it by learning to accept her current situation and being content
with what she had.
Question 3.
What would have happened to Matilda if she had confessed to
her friend that she had lost her necklace?
Answer:
Truth and honesty
would have saved Matilda from her doom. If only she has been courageous enough
to confess to her friend the truth of the necklace, she would have come to
know that it was a fake one that cost a mere five hundred francs. She would
not have Spent her husband’s entire inheritance and borrowed eighteen thousand
francs to pay for its replacement. In fact, she would have saved herself and
her husband from ten long years of crushing poverty, misery and back breaking
labour
Question 4.
If you were caught in a situation like this, how would you
have dealt with it?
Answer:
Foremost of all, I would have done my
best not to become a victim of my own pride and aspirations. If, I was caught
in such a situation, I would have let the truth out and then face the
consequences. Honesty would have been the way out for me.
Talk About It
(page 46)
Question 1.
The characters in this story speak in English. Do you think
this is their language? What clues are there in the story about the language
its characters must be speaking in?
Answer:
Though the characters
speak in English, it is not their language. Maupassant wrote the story in
French and it was translated into English. Again the very text throws up
enough words in French to prove it otherwise. First, the very names of
characters like ‘Mme Loisel, Mme Forestier and the minister’s name George
Ramponneau indicate their French origin. Then, the words for currency like
‘Franc’ and ‘Sou’ show the same. Also, the shop’s location at ‘Palais Royal’
and ‘Champs Elysees’ point out the French history of the characters and the
story.
Question 2.
Honesty is the best Policy.
Answer:
Honesty is
definitely the best policy. Falsehood and hypocrisy seem very attractive and
rewarding at first. But, the path they tread on leads to nothing but misery,
evil and utter gloom. Honesty, on the contrary, seems to be a difficult choice
in pursuit of material happiness. However, it is the only choice for a life of
contentment, peace and everlasting happiness.
Question 3.
We should be content with what life gives us.
Answer:
Life
is a great mystery. For every individual this mystery of life comes wrapped in
a unique package. For some, it is all riches, comfort, name and fame. For
some, it is nothing but sheer hunger, poverty, anguish and an everyday quest
for bare survival. One, however, must learn to live within one’s means and be
content with what one has. One may try to improve his lot by honest means but
eventually must be at peace with what one manages to have.