Is Lying the Right Thing to Do?
In Marjorie Laurie's The Necklace, the protagnoist Mathidle Loisel faces a situation that leaves readers with the question, was that the right thing to do? Mathidle is a beautiful woman who believes she deserves fame and fortune, but by "a mistake of destiny" was born into a family of poor clerks (Laurie 48). When invited to the palace of the Ministry, Martile was angered, she "threw the invitation on the table with disdain (Lauire 48). Martile was very upset about the invite to the ball because she had nothing to wear, nothing to make her feel 'pretty'. As a result, her husband gave her four hundred francs to buy a dress for the party, but that was still not enough. When Martile realizes she does not have a necklace to wear, she turns to her wealthy friend Mme. Forestier for a beautiful diamond necklace.
Once the ball was over, Mathilde had realized she lost the necklace. Rather than being honest, Mathidle lied to her friend saying that the necklace was being repaired. Then, she ended up working extremely hard and for a long time that she became ugly and old; unrecognizable. This brings up the major question of the short story, is lying the right thing to do? And when is it okay to lie?
In a situation like the one Mathilde was faced with, it is difficult to decide what is the correct thing to do. On one hand, you do not want to upset anyone, get in trouble, or put a friendship at risk, but on the other hand, lying can end up hurting you in the end. So what is the 'right' thing to do?
Since Mathilde and Mme Forestier are friends, it is clear that Mathilde lied to protect their friendship. But if they were that great of friends, Mme Forestier would have been understanding of the situation, realizing it was an accident. Therefore, I believe Mathilde did not do the right thing. After losing the diamond necklace, Mathilde worked extremely hard for ten years to earn enough money to buy a replica necklace, meanwhile, original necklace that was worth "paste" (Laurie 53). After ten years of hard work, Mathilde ended up turning old and ugly, due to exhaustion. In addition, Matheidle spent more money on the new necklace than the original one. Therefore, lying was not the right thing because it ended up hurting her in the end.
