Dzakiyyah Rusydah

15020154076

Analyzing a Short Story

“The Jewels”

By Guy de Maupassant

After reading the sort story ‘The Jewels’. I would like to explain about the element of it.
This element contains about it aspects. There are plot, character, point of view, setting, tone or
atmosphere or attitude of the author, theme, symbols, allegory, foreshadowing, moment of epiphany
and style.

I will explain about the plot which is contain with exposition, rising action, crisis, climax,
falling action and resolution. First introducing is raised up when the girl also known as Mrs. Lantin
described, “ The girl seemed the perfect example of the virtuous woman to whom every sensible young
man dreams of entrusting his life. Her simple beauty had a modest. Angelic charm and the imperceptible
smile which always hovered about her lips seemed to be a reflection of her heart.” Mr. Lantin as her
husband described too in this short story, “Monsieur Lantin, who was then a senior clerk at the Ministry
of the Interior with a salary of three thousand five hundred francs a year.” Also there was the second
more introducing about his wife about her tastes, “He found fault with only two of her tastes: her love
for the theater and her passion for imitation jewelry.”

Rising action happens when he shocked seeing his wife wore beautiful jewelries can find in
the sentence “Her husband, who was rather shocked by this love of show, often used to say: ‘My dear,
when a woman can’t afford to buy real jewels, she ought to appear adorned with her beauty and grace
alone: those are still the rare of gems.’ “ Also when his wife dead because the pneumonia after a week
had a cough, “One night in winter when she had been to the Opera, she came home shivering with cold.
The next morning she had a cough, and a week later she died of pneumonia.”

After that here the crisis begins he didn’t have money anymore to paid his debts as the
sentence, “He incurred a few debts and ran after money in the way people do when they are reduced to
desperate shifts. Finally, one morning, finding himself without a sou(a former French coin) a whole week
before the end of the month, he decided to sell something; and immediately the idea occurred to him of
disposing of his wife’s ‘trash’.”

Next is about the climax when he discovers that the gems are real as we can find at, Once
outside, however, he felt an impulse to laugh and he thought; ‘The fool! Oh, the fool! But what if I’d
taken him at his world? There’s a jeweler who can’t tell real diamonds from paste! And he went into
jeweler’s shop at the beginning of the Rue de la Paix.”

Then the falling action is when he felt hungry and does not have any money but he decided
to sell the necklace then he sell all of his wife’s jewelries and become wealthy as we can read at, “He
began to feel hungry for he had eaten nothing for two days but his pocket was empty. Then he
remembered the necklace. Eighteen thousand francs! Eighteen thousand francs! That was a tidy sum,
and no mistake! Finding himself next to a distinguished-looking gentleman, he was unable to refrain
from informing him with a certain coyness that he had just inherited four hundred thousand francs. For
the first time in his life he was not bored at the theater, and he spent the night with some prostitute.”

Resolution is the last when he decided to married again but she has extremely bad-
tempered different with his first wife and she makes his life unhappy as we can read at, “Six months
later he married again. His second wife was a very virtuous woman, but extremely bad-tempered. She
made him very unhappy.”

Now moved to characters. They are divided into major and minor character. In this story
there are four. They are Monsieur Lantin, his first wife, his second wife and the jeweler. Major
characters there are Monsieur Lantin and his first wife. Minor characters there are his second wife and
the jeweler. Monsieur Lantin is a loyal husband as we can look at, “He was incredibly happy with her.
She lavished attention on her husband, spoiling and cuddling him, and the charm of her person was so
great that six years after their first meeting he loved her even more than in the early days.” He kinds of
much deliberation person it seemed when he want to sell his wife’s jewelries, “Completely
dumbfounded, Monsieur Lantin took back his necklace and left the shop, in obedience to a vague desire
to be alone and think.” But he is being a little bit arrogant when he became wealthy man, “ He looked at
the other carriages with a slightly contemptuous air, longing to call out to the passerby: ‘I’m a rich man,
too! I’m worth two hundred thousand francs!’ Suddenly he remembered his Ministry. He drove there at
once, strode into his superior’s office, and said: ‘Monsieur, I have come to resign my post. I have just
been left three hundred thousand francs.” But the end he be chagrined because he can not get his
happiness with his second wife, “His second wife was a very virtuous woman, but extremely bad-
tempered.” His first wife is a nice and lovely person, “Her simple beauty had a modest, angelic charm
and the imperceptible smile which always hovered about her lips seemed to be a reflection of her heart.”
The jeweler is just to be honest to his/her customer also known as Monsieur Lantin about the price of
the necklace and wants to knowing person, “Monsieur Lantin, embarrassed by all this ritual, was
opening his mouth to say: ‘Oh, I know perfectly well that it isn’t worth anything,” when the jeweler said:
‘Monsieur, this necklace is worth between twelve and fifteen thousand francs; but I couldn’t buy it unless
you told me where it came from.” The last is his second wife is kind of bad-tempered person but a very
virtuous woman, “His second wife was a very virtuous woman, but extremely bad-tempered.”

Point of view of this story as the third person because it seems from how the story tells us.
The author use subject as he and she not I am, so it means third person’s point view.

Setting divided into time and place. The setting place of this story is in France because it
used francs as the money, “Monsieur, this necklace is worth between twelve and fifteen thousand
francs.” The time is at one night, “One night in winter when she had been to the Opera, she came home
shivering with cold.” Also in the next morning, “The next morning she had a cough, and a week later she
died of pneumonia.”
 The atmosphere that I felt reading this story is like this story begin happily but there were
many crisis I found until it became sad ending story. The author gave the good story plot how one by
one action happened.

The themes are first the gold does not always seems good. M. Lantin believe that his first
wife’s jewelries are fake because his wife never tell him that they are real. Second is reality different
with expectation. M. Landin thought that if he become a rich man he will life happily ever after with his
money but the reality said neither.

The symbol is the jewel of his first wife. Her jewel it is so unique and different. That is why
her passion is in jewelry.

The allegory from this short story we can look at, “His despair was so terrible that his hair
turned white within a month.” It shows how despair him about his first wife’s death. It is like he can not
life without her.

The foreshadowing start from his wife appearance, “The young girl was a perfect type of
the virtuous woman whom every sensible you man dreams of one day winning for life. Her simple beauty
had a modest. Angelic charm and the imperceptible smile which always hovered about her lips seemed
to be a reflection of her heart. Everybody sang her praises and people who knew her never tired of
saying: ‘Happy the man who marries her. Nobody could find a better wife.” From that we can make a
conclusion what is M. Lantin personality.

The moment of epiphany is If M. Lantin did not sell the jewels what will happen?

The last is in “The Jewels” short story by Guy de Maupassant the style is about life story.
The story tell us to see deeper than the outside it means like do not judge a book by its cover. Like M.
Lantin do he saw his wife from the outside or beauty not even her heart.