Short story.

Summary of “The Neckless”

Mathilde Loisel is “pretty and charming” but feels she has been
born into a family of unfavorable economic status. She was married
off to a lowly clerk in the Ministry of Education, who can afford to
provide her only with a modest though not uncomfortable lifestyle.
Mathilde feels the burden of her poverty intensely. She regrets her
lot in life and spends endless hours imagining a more extravagant
existence. While her husband expresses his pleasure at the small,
modest supper she has prepared for him, she dreams of an elaborate
feast served on fancy china and eaten in the company of wealthy
friends. She possesses no fancy jewels or clothing, yet these are the
only things she lives for. Without them, she feels she is not desirable.
She has one wealthy friend, Madame Forestier, but refuses to visit
her because of the heartbreak it brings her.

One night, her husband returns home proudly bearing an invitation

to a formal party hosted by the Ministry of Education. He hopes
that Mathilde will be thrilled with the chance to attend an event of
this sort, but she is instantly angry and begins to cry. Through her
tears, she tells him that she has nothing to wear and he ought to give
the invitation to one of his friends whose wife can afford better
clothing. Her husband is upset by her reaction and asks how much a
suitable dress would cost. She thinks about it carefully and tells him
that 400 francs would be enough. Her husband quietly balks at the
sum but agrees that she may have the money.

As the day of the party approaches, Mathilde starts to behave oddly.

She confesses that the reason for her behavior is her lack of jewels.
Monsieur Loisel suggests that she wear flowers, but she refuses. He
implores her to visit Madame Forestier and borrow something from
her. Madame Forestier agrees to lend Mathilde her jewels, and
Mathilde selects a diamond necklace. She is overcome with gratitude
at Madame Forestier’s generosity.
At the party, Mathilde is the most beautiful woman in attendance,
and everyone notices her. She is intoxicated by the attention and has
an overwhelming sense of self-satisfaction. At 4 a.m., she finally
looks for Monsieur Loisel, who has been dozing for hours in a
deserted room. He cloaks her bare shoulders in a wrap and cautions
her to wait inside, away from the cold night air, while he fetches a
cab. But she is ashamed at the shabbiness of her wrap and follows
Monsieur Loisel outside. They walk for a while before hailing a cab.

When they finally return home, Mathilde is saddened that the night
has ended. As she removes her wrap, she discovers that her necklace
is no longer around her neck. In a panic, Monsieur Loisel goes
outside and retraces their steps. Terrified, she sits and waits for him.
He returns home much later in an even greater panic—he has not
found the necklace. He instructs her to write to Madame Forestier
and say that she has broken the clasp of the necklace and is getting
it mended.

They continue to look for the necklace. After a week, Monsieur

Loisel says they have to see about replacing it. They visit many
jewelers, searching for a similar necklace, and finally find one. It
costs 40,000 francs, although the jeweler says he will give it to them
for 36,000. The Loisels spend a week scraping up money from all
kinds of sources, mortgaging the rest of their existence. After three
days, Monsieur Loisel purchases the necklace. When Mathilde
returns the necklace, in its case, to Madame Forestier, Madame
Forestier is annoyed at how long it has taken to get it back but does
not open the case to inspect it. Mathilde is relieved.

The Loisels began to live a life of crippling poverty. They dismiss

their servant and move into an even smaller apartment. Monsieur
Loisel works three jobs, and Mathilde spends all her time doing the
heavy housework. This misery lasts ten years, but at the end they
have repaid their financial debts. Mathilde’s extraordinary beauty is
now gone: she looks just likes the other women of poor households.
They are both tired and irrevocably damaged from these years of
hardship.

One Sunday, while she is out for a walk, Mathilde spots Madame
Forestier. Feeling emotional, she approaches her and offers
greetings. Madame Forestier does not recognize her, and when
Mathilde identifies herself, Madame Forestier cannot help but
exclaim that she looks different. Mathilde says that the change was
on her account and explains to her the long saga of losing the
necklace, replacing it, and working for ten years to repay the debts.
At the end of her story, Madame Forestier clasps her hands and tells
Mathilde the original necklace was just costume jewelry and not
worth anything.

Theme of the Story

The story of ‘The Necklace’ is a satire that gives a strong message on
human values. The very first thing that this lesson teaches us is that
everyone should be contented in life with whatever little that he has.
One should live within one’s means or else he invites unnecessary
problems, anxieties, and confusion in life. The most important
message of the story is that we should be what we are. There is a
facade among most of the individuals that they just want to be like
someone who they are not so that they can be liked by people. But
all individuals need to learn the fact that you can't change what
your policy doesn't even need to be like someone. You are best as
you are and you are unique in your own way. Every individual has
his/ her own style and if you change that also, then what will make
you unique from others will not be there anymore. So, you just need
to accept yourself and move forward to improve yourself by
inculcating good qualities in yourself. If you want to improve
yourself then you need to cultivate good qualities in yourself so that
you can lead the life of a respectable person.
It is often observed that people tend to be the ones whom they think
people like more and in that process, they eventually lose their own
identity. Self-acceptance is what is lacking in today's generation. It
is not about thinking someone can not be superior to you, it is
realizing and accepting the fact that you are not inferior to anyone.
You should be proud of yourself and learn to accept your flaws and
weaknesses. Only when you accept your weakness can you improve
yourself. If you seriously want to make some positive changes in
your life, then start accepting yourself just the way you are. False
pride or show-off is the cause of our sufferings. Mrs Loisel had lost
the necklace that she had borrowed from her friend and instead of
confessing it to the owner, she got into more debt and poverty to
repay the amount. The story tells us about the negative effects of
pride and vanity and emphasizes the importance of being content
with what one has.
Theme 2
“The Necklace” is a short story written by Guy de Maupassant in
1888. The moral of the story is that individuals should be content
with their current circumstances and avoid translating the fake
image. The story conveys that seeking only materialistic wealth and
impersonating someone a person is not led to deplorable results.
Thus, “The Necklace” teaches readers that even though one might
appear in a particular way, seeming rich or happy, it is not always
true.
This story has a moral that is delivered through the hidden message
of the work. It could be seen from the story plot, which reflects the
issue of life values through the example of the main characters.
Mathilde and Mr. Loisel would not have been in debt for ten years if
Mathilde had not misplaced the necklace or even asked to borrow it.
Because Mathilde had to borrow the jewelry to appear wealthier,
she and Mr. Loisel faced adverse consequences.
The main character of the story, Mathilde Loisel, and her husband
had no financial possessions; she lacked clothing and jewelry.
Mathilde came from a working-class family but dreamed about “all
the delicacies and luxuries of life” (Guy de Maupassant 1). She
fantasized about having a lot of money, nice clothes, and a lovely
home. Nevertheless, she was well aware that her ambitions were
unreasonable and unreachable.

Once, Mathilde and her husband have decided to go to a ball to

enjoy the posh atmosphere of the event. Even though they had no
money for such occasions, Mathilde has spent all of her husband’s
money to buy a pretty dress. Still not satisfied with her looks, she
borrowed a beautiful diamond necklace from her friend. However,
the necklace was lost at the end of the event, which left Mathilde and
her husband with enormous debts. They were forced to work until
the end of their lives to return the money borrowed for the necklace
purchase.

The moral of the story “The Necklace” is that society should not
condemn people based on their outward appearances because even
though they may look wealthy and successful, it might not be
accurate in reality. It educates readers not to lust for material items
but to appreciate what they already have. The lesson of “The
Necklace” is that individuals should not think beyond their
capabilities and should be content with what they possess and who
they are.

3. The Deceptiveness of Appearances

The reality of Mathilde’s situation is that she is neither wealthy nor
part of the social class of which she feels she is a deserving member,
but Mathilde does everything in her power to make her life appear
different from how it is. She lives in an illusory world where her
actual life does not match the ideal life she has in her head—she
believes that her beauty and charm make her worthy of greater
things. The party is a triumph because for the first time, her
appearance matches the reality of her life. She is prettier than the
other women, sought after by the men, and generally admired and
flattered by all. Her life, in the few short hours of the party, is as she
feels it should be. However, beneath this rightness and seeming
match of appearances and reality is the truth that her appearance
took a great deal of scheming and work. The bliss of her evening
was not achieved without angst, and the reality of her appearance is
much different than it seems. Her wealth and class are simply
illusions, and other people are easily deceived.

The deceptiveness of appearances is highlighted by Madame

Forestier’s necklace, which appears to be made of diamonds but is
actually nothing more than costume jewelry. The fact that it comes
from Madame Forestier’s jewelry box gives it the illusion of richness
and value; had Monsieur Loisel suggested that Mathilde wear fake
jewels, she surely would have scoffed at the idea, just as she scoffed
at his suggestion to wear flowers. Furthermore, the fact that
Madame Forestier—in Mathilde’s view, the epitome of class and
wealth—has a necklace made of fake jewels suggests that even the
wealthiest members of society pretend to have more wealth than
they actually have. Both women are ultimately deceived by
appearances: Madame Forestier does not tell Mathilde that the
diamonds are fake, and Mathilde does not tell Madame Forestier
that she has replaced the necklace. The fact that the necklace
changes—unnoticed—from worthless to precious suggests that true
value is ultimately dependent on perception and that appearances
can easily deceive.

3. The Perceived Power of Objects

Mathilde believes that objects have the power to change her life, but
when she finally gets two of the objects she desires most, the dress
and necklace, her happiness is fleeting at best. At the beginning of
“The Necklace,” we get a laundry list of all the objects she does not
have but that she feels she deserves. The beautiful objects in other
women’s homes and absence of such objects in her own home make
her feel like an outsider, fated to envy other women. The things she
does have—a comfortable home, hot soup, a loving husband—she
disdains. Mathilde effectively relinquishes control of her happiness
to objects that she does not even possess, and her obsession with the
trappings of the wealthy leads to her perpetual discontent. When she
finally acquires the dress and necklace, those objects seem to have a
transformative power. She is finally the woman she believes she was
meant to be—happy, admired, and envied. She has gotten what she
wanted, and her life has changed accordingly. However, when she
loses the necklace, the dream dissolves instantly, and her life
becomes even worse than before. In reality, the power does not lie
with the objects but within herself.

A Summary and Analysis of E. M. Forster’s ‘The Other Side of the

Hedge’
The story is a highly symbolic one in which a man walking along a
road stops for a rest, goes through a hedge, and finds himself in a
strange world where nothing leads anywhere. Before we offer an
analysis of the story’s meaning and symbolism, here’s a brief
summary of what happens in it.

‘The Other Side of the Hedge’: plot summary

The story is narrated by a man walking along a road. He is using a

pedometer to measure his speed, and is so tired he has to stop for a
rest, allowing an educationalist named Eliza Dimbleby to overtake
him. The narrator fears he will be like his brother, whom he had to
leave by the roadside a year or so before. The narrator says that the
monotony of the road is the biggest obstacle in keeping going.
A puff of air from the hedge at the roadside intrigues him, and he
goes to take a closer look in the hedge, only to get stuck halfway into
the hedge so he has no choice but to push forwards. He finds that he
has fallen right through the hedge and into a pool of water which
turns out to be a ditch. He is rescued from the water by an old man,
whom he quizzes about this new place. The man tells him that this
place leads nowhere. This doesn’t make sense to the narrator, who is
used to the road which is always going somewhere.

Realising that he appears to be trapped there, the narrator loses all

enjoyment of this pleasant pastoral world. He is used to advancing
and being constantly on the move, but such things appear to be alien
to this new world. He is obsessed with development, with things
being linked together as part of a great chain of progress. But this
new place doesn’t work like that.

As he explores the new place, the narrator finds a bridge, over

which is a big gate as white as ivory. This gate opens outwards onto
a road just like the one from which the narrator had come. But this
guide tells him that it’s a different road from the one he knew: it’s
the one from which humanity first left this place when it was first
seized with ‘the desire to walk’.

As they continue to walk around the place, the narrator sees Eliza
Dimbleby, and this surprises him because he knows she is due to
give a lecture that evening. He then finds his watch has stopped. The
old man tells him that people often meet others they knew from the
road in this place and are astonished to see familiar faces.

The narrator tells him he must bid them farewell and re-join the
road. But he can’t. He refuses to eat the food the people eat in this
strange place, and insists on staying awake. He yearns to return to
life with all of its struggles and its victories. Coming to another
bridge on which another gate – a gate that looks to be made of horn
– the narrator sees, through this gate, a road very much like the one
he had left.

A man appears with a scythe over his shoulder, and the narrator
grabs this man’s drinks can and drinks from it gladly. He then sees
the old man closes the gate and tells him that this is where his road
ends. The story concludes with the narrator falling asleep, and, as he
drifts off, recognising the man with the scythe as his own brother
who had left the road a year or so ago.

‘The Other Side of the Hedge’: analysis

‘The Other Side of the Hedge’ has the force of an allegory, and it’s
clear that everything in the story is symbolic rather than literal. The
road down which the narrator walks is life, whose monotony is
occasionally challenging, but the alternative is to stop and ‘rest’ (i.e.,
die) and give up life forever. When he leaves the road and goes
through the hedge, he dies, returning to the Edenic world of
humanity before life and ‘the road’ existed. However, the road also
symbolises a particular view of life, which is predicated on progress,
improvement, and development: especially scientific and
technological development (hence the pedometer).

Forster was deeply concerned about the impact that technological

‘progress’ would have on humanity, as his dystopian short story of
1909, ‘The Machine Stops’ (perhaps the most prophetic story ever
written), all too clearly demonstrates. The narrator of ‘The Other
Side of the Hedge’ seems certain that things are constantly
improving, yet the examples he gives include the Transvaal War:
hardly a good example of progress. We are meant to view Forster’s
first-person narrator with scepticism and examine his views and his
attitudes under a critique.

The gates of ivory and horn are also deeply symbolic. The gates of
horn and ivory denote the difference between true dreams and false
ones: dreams that came through the gate of ivory were false and
dreams that came through the gate of horn were true. It is
significant that the first gate in ‘The Other Side of the Hedge’ is
made of something which resembles ivory, since it leads onto the
road which, the old man reveals, first tempted humanity to leave
behind the paradise of the world beyond the hedge and take their
first steps towards ‘progress’ and the mortal world.

By contrast, the second gate is made of something transparent, like

horn, because it shows him one last glimpse of the road he is leaving
behind as he returns, forever, to the world enclosed by the moat.
The phrase is found in Homer’s Odyssey, where Penelope observes
that dreams that pass through the gate of sawn ivory deceive men,
bringing words that find no fulfilment, while dreams which come
through the gate of polished horn bring true issues to pass. In other
words, humanity leaving the hedge-world behind for the road did
not bring fulfilment, though men were tricked into thinking it
would. But in accepting that one must leave it behind (as in the
narrator’s last look through the horn-like gate), one realises and
accepts the truth.

Is the narrator definitely dead? The fact that his brother resembles
the Grim Reaper, complete with his scythe, suggests so, but one of
the cleverest thing about Forster’s story is that he leaves the matter
open to interpretation, with the symbolism working on several
levels. For this reason it might be wrong to label the story as a strict
‘allegory’ per se, because its symbols are more ambiguous than the
allegory label would allow. The world beyond the hedge may not be
heaven or paradise, but some other state. The road may
not just symbolise life, but rather the rat-race in which humanity
views everything as a matter of progress, targets, goals, and
technological improvement. The prelapsarian and preindustrial
world the narrator is introduced to offers another way of living.

2.
In The Other Side of the Hedge by E.M. Forster we have the theme
of acceptance, letting go, conflict and failure. Narrated in the first
person by an unnamed narrator the reader realises after reading the
story that Forster may be exploring the theme of acceptance. The
narrator does not accept the position he finds himself in. He has
went through the hedge and is in a Utopian world in which some
critics suggest is Heaven. However all the narrator wishes to do is to
return to Earth and to continue walking. This may be significant as
the walking could be symbolic of a person’s participation in life. The
narrator may in fact long to return to Earth simply because he does
not feel ready for the new world that he has entered. Though the
reality is the narrator doesn’t have much say in the matter due to
the restrictions imposed on him by the old man. If anything the
narrator is in conflict with himself. Torn between Heaven and
Earth. There is also an external conflict between the narrator and
the old man who informs the narrator that he cannot go back as he
wishes to do so.
What is also interesting about the story is the fact that the narrator
doesn’t realise that he is in Heaven. He is so focused on returning to
Earth and continuing with his walking that he is unable the embrace
the beauty that is around him. If anything the narrator tries to
distance himself from the other people in Heaven. Which may be the
point that Forster is attempting to make. He may be suggesting that
mankind is so focused on earthly things like goals and doesn’t
realise just how futile chasing aspirations and goals may be. Though
the narrator is driven by his desire to walk and succeed. He has
forgotten about the things that are important in life. Family being
an example. Particularly when the narrator passed his brother by
on the road. He did not stay with his brother as one would expect a
person to do. Rather the narrator was so driven that he choose to
continue walking. It is as though the walking has become a
competition for the narrator and he must win at all costs. There is
also a sense that the narrator cannot let go of the life he is leading.
Though he does not know what the prize may be the narrator still
wants to keep walking.
Which may leave some readers to suggest that the narrator is blind
to his actions. He has become uncaring towards others with the most
important thing being to keep walking despite the narrator not
knowing his final destination. Even when in Heaven the narrator
can’t let go of Earth or the desire to keep walking. It is as though the
narrator wants to be the best walker there is or that he wants to
reach his goal before others do. While at the same time not taking
anybody else into consideration. It is also possible that Forster is
asking as to whether advancement of mankind is a necessity or
where does it stop. In reality the narrator does not enjoy walking
and it does eventually kill him. Yet he is adamant that he will
succeed. However the reality is the walking or the road has gotten
the better of the narrator. Something which the narrator either
chooses to ignore or is totally unaware of. Rather than accepting
that the old man is there to help him. The narrator wishes to escape
as quickly as he can.
The end of the story is also interesting as it only becomes clear to the
narrator that he is dead when he sees his brother. Prior to this the
narrator had no understanding that he was in Heaven. It is only
when the narrator realises that he is in Heaven that he accepts his
circumstances. No longer does the road (or Earth) have the same
pull on the narrator as it previously had. It is as though the narrator
is no longer in conflict with either himself or the old man. Something
that is symbolically noticeable when the narrator lies down and falls
asleep. It is only then the narrator truly realises that his battle is
over. That he has spent his life chasing goals which have only
resulted in him dying. Which sums up how life may be for many
people who forget to take time and slow down. The narrator has set
himself an unrealistic goal in which he was not sure what the ends
might be. In many ways the narrator has failed in his efforts though
at the same time he does have the benefit of being reunited with his
brother. Who by all means appears to be happy. Just like the
narrator may be should he give Heaven some time.

What is Chronological CV?

Ans: The Chronological CV suits to applicants who have solid employment
history with reputable organizations. The Chronological CV lists work history
job-by-job starting with the most recent position first.
Chronological CV
Personal information
Name:
Father Name:
CNIC No:
Mailing Address:
Email:
Contact No:
Objectives:
To engage in a career that will allow for progress in terms of expertise, socio-
economic development, and innovation through exposure to new ideas for
professional growth, as well as growth of the company.
QUALIFICATION:
Sr Degree / Institute Div / CGPA Board / Univ
No Cert
1 CA ICAP Islamabad --------- ICAP
Karachi
2 B. Com Punjab College Sargodha 1st Univ: of
Punjab
3 FSc Punjab College Sargodha 1st BISE
Sargodha
4 SSC GHS No.1 Sargodha 1st BISE
Sargodha

Work experience / history:

Present Job:
1. Serving as an Accountant in Military Accounts Sargodha since 2015 to date.
Duties and responsibilities: Preparing FR, Audit Report and Tax report
2. Served as an Accountant in Pepsi Cola Lahore since 2010 to 2014.
Duties and responsibilities: To prepare salary slips, routine bank dealings and
in and out cash flow.
Computer skills: MS Office
Languages: Urdu, English, Punjabi
Extra-Curricular activities: Reading books
Reference:
1.Rehmat Ayaz
Lecturer NUST Islamabad
Contact No: xxxxxxxx
2.
3.

FUNCTIONAL CV
Functional CV suits to fresh applicants. It emphasizes the applicant’s special
technical skills, competencies and achievements.
Personal information
Name:
Father Name:
CNIC No:
Mailing Address:
Email:
Contact No:
Objectives:
To engage in a career that will allow for progress in terms of expertise, socio-
economic development, and innovation through exposure to new ideas for
professional growth, as well as growth of the company.
QUALIFICATION:
Sr Degree / Institute Div / CGPA Board / Univ
No Cert
 1 CA ICAP Islamabad --------- ICAP
Karachi
2 B.Com Punjab College Sargodha 1st Univ of
Punjab
3 FSc Punjab College Sargodha 1st BISE
Sargodha
4 SSC GHS No.1 Sargodha 1st BISE
Sargodha

Skills: 1. Have sound knowledge of Audit, FR and Tax

2. Can work on Peachtree and software of accountancy.
Achievements: 1. Got scholarship in B. Com
2. Got merit certificate in FR
Computer skills: MS Office
Languages: Urdu, English, Punjabi
Extra-Curricular activities: Reading books
Reference:
1.Rehmat Ayaz Lecturer NUST Islamabad
Contact No: xxxxxxxx
2.
3.