Stories that seem to have nothing in common can be misleading. Ivan Dorin's short story "Outside Edges" and Guy de Maupassant's "The Necklace", have settings roughly 200 years apart, take place on opposite sides of the world, and still depict many similarities. These stories manifest themes of how one can become estranged from the outside world and their surroundings. Stubbornness, obsession and ambition are themes revealed by the authors through use of devices such as character, setting, and plot which will all be explored.
As different as they are, Mme. Loisel, the main character in "The Necklace", and David, the main character in "Outside Edges", possess many of the same qualities, but it is these qualities that will lead to their alienation from everything else. The main characters of these stories are very contrasted. Mme. Loisel is a married woman who makes little money and struggles to get by, while David is a young boy who we do see grow throughout the story but starts off as only a little child. The stubbornness of these characters is revealed through certain events in the stories. When Mme. Loisel realized that she has no jewelry to wear to the ball and decides she cannot attend without any, her husband sugge
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Loisel is given the opportunity to spend the night as someone who she always wanted to be, it is then when we realize how much happiness it brings her, "She danced with intoxication, with passion. He argues with his father about skating across Canada and his father insists that it would be impossible since Canada is not covered with ice. She shuts out the world and focuses on this one goal. The character struggles are both caused by ambition. Although the settings are different, they are both crucial to the stories in a similar way. David becomes obsessed with collecting maps and marking his path across Canada that he slowly becomes oblivious to anything that does not have to do with these things. He never finds interest in dating and rarely communicates with his family. Loisel and her husband finally make forty thousand francs to make up the cost just in time to learn the truth from the necklace's owner, Mme. He is determined to make his way across Canada, marking on every map he owns. The struggles of the characters are exposed and are dealt with throughout the story and both have a slightly twisted ending that is unpredictable. The setting in "Outside Edges" is fairly modern.
The authors used themes like stubbornness, obsession and ambition to show how a character can become alienated from their surroundings. The though of not looking as wealthy as the other woman at the ball is unacceptable to her.
Approximate Word count =
921
Approximate Pages =
4 (250 words per page double spaced)
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