4COMPARE AND CONTRAST: Comparing 'The Necklace' and 'Friday Black'

This essay provides a comparative analysis of two short stories, "The Necklace" by Guy De Maupassant and "Friday Black" by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah, exploring their shared themes of consumerism and the impact of capitalist society on individuals' lives. "The Necklace" highlights Mathilde's dissatisfaction and the consequences of her materialistic desires, while "Friday Black" depicts the frenzy of Black Friday and the struggles of a salesman. The essay delves into the similarities, such as the critique of capitalism and its effects on poverty and basic needs, as well as the differences in protagonists' motivations, thematic focus, and narrative styles, including the treatment of racial discrimination and violence. Both stories, though written in different eras, serve to expose the harsh realities of the world and the detrimental effects of prioritizing material wealth over human values, urging readers to find contentment and satisfaction beyond consumerist ideals. The essay draws on the provided source, "40 Short Stories A Portable Anthology" by Beverly Lawn.

Running head: COMPARE AND CONTRAST
COMPARE AND CONTRAST
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Consumerism is defined as a social as well as an economic order that has encouraged
the acquiring or purchasing of goods in unlimited amounts. However, there are few
opponents of consumerism who believe that living in a simple way will prove to be more
sustainable as well as healthy for people and the environment. The primary aim of the essay
is to compare and contrast the two short stories “The Necklace” by Guy De Maupassant and
“Friday Black” by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah. Both the stories show the impact that
capitalist society has on the lives of the people.
“The Necklace” by Maupassant is a story that is known for its ironic ending, which is
the hallmark of the author. The story revolves around Mathilde, who is overwhelmed by the
aristocratic way of life and wants to follow the same path. Because of her greed, she as well
as her husband suffers a lot and has to taste poverty. Similarly Friday Black by Adjei-
Brenyah also revolves around greedy customers who wants to purchase new items on the
occasion of Black Friday. The protagonist in the story is the salesman of a department store,
and he has to cope with the insatiable black shoppers who comes at his store on the occasion
of Black Friday who also wants to win a sales contest so that he will be able to gift a jacket to
his mother from the prize money (Lawn). On the other hand, there is Emmanuel who can set
his blackness according to different situations. The story talks about a number of topics such
as race, criminal justice system and most importantly, consumerism. Even “The Necklace”
has consumerism as one of its themes.
Throughout the story of “The Necklace,” the readers can find that Mathilde is
struggling to cope with her aristocratic way of life. She is not happy with what she has;
instead, she wants more from her husband, who goes beyond his way to fulfil all her
struggles. The theme of consumerism is evident throughout the story. To attend the ball, she
forces her husband to buy her a new dress, and when he does, she demands a necklace that
could not be fulfilled by her husband. To look good among other ladies, she borrows a

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necklace from a friend that she loses at the party, which leads to a complete turn of events.
The life that she dreamt for herself completely slips off from her hand because of her own
mistake. Her greed makes her suffer a lot, and at the end, she comes to know that the
necklace that she thought to be of diamond was nothing more than a standard metal (Lawn).
The story clearly highlights the effects of consumerism and how the latter was influenced by
a capitalist notion. The story shows how capitalist is a cruel thing that destroys the lives of
everyone where people are not satisfied with what they have; instead, they desire for more
than they can afford.
“Friday Black” too has the theme of consumerism like “The Necklace” where a
shopping mall is seen to be bursting with people who are going in the direction of a clothing
store to get the winter wear that they were getting at a discount. The narrator displays the
discounted jackets to the frenzied crowd. Though consumerism is not explicitly evident in the
story, yet the story has a hint of truth and shows the accumulation of the mundane details that
makes the funny scenario seem plausible (Lawn). People in the story are shown to step on
each other to get hold of the discounted clothes at the store. The story very well explains the
callowness regarding commercialism.
The ill-effects of capitalism is shown quite clearly in both stories. It shows how
capitalism has led to poverty and how the latter has affected the lives of the people in various
ways. In both the short stories mentioned above the ill effects of capitalism has been
portrayed quite well. The stories show hoe capitalism had only favoured the rich and
deprived those who were already deprived of the beginning. In both the short stories, the
basic needs are seen as something very uncommon and something that people longs for. In
“The Necklace” Mathilde dreams of having a new dress so that she can wear. This
fundamental right has become a dream in a capitalist society. Similarly, in “Friday Black” too
people are struggling to buy clothes that are on discounts so that they do not have to purchase

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it at a higher price. This shows the genuine need and helplessness of people in a capitalist
society. The authors of both the short stories show how people during capitalism were
struggling to get their fundamental rights of food, clothing and shelter (Lawn). The stories
also highlight the struggles of middle-class people who suffered a lot in the capitalist society.
Furthermore, in both the stories too many characters have not been used by the authors to
bring out their desired message. In both, the stories of “The Necklace” as well as “Friday
Black” audience experiences a shock at the end of the story. In the former, the readers, along
with the audience, are shocked to know that the necklace was fake and not made up of
diamond. In “Friday Black” readers are shocked to know the brutalities that are still
committed on the unarmed Africans in the name of the race.
Along with similarities, there are also many dissimilarities between the two stories.
One of the first difference evident in the stories are the character of the protagonists. In “The
Necklace” Mathilde is portrayed as a selfish young woman who only thinks about herself and
her aristocratic way life that she struggles to achieve. She does not even think about her
husband, who does everything to make her life peaceful as well as happy. On the other hand,
in “Friday Black” the protagonist is not selfish. He does not think about himself instead
thinks of his mother for whom he wants to buy a jacket and make her happy. He does not
want to use the prize money for himself; instead, he wants to use it for the sake of his mother,
a gift that would put a smile on the face of his mother. Another difference is found on the
themes of the stories. “The Necklace” by Maupassant only focuses on the effects of
capitalism as well as consumerism. There is a twist at the end of the story that acts as an
epiphany for Mathilde. On the other hand, in “Friday Black” the story does not mainly talk
about consumerism as well as capitalism (Lawn). The story revolves as well as highlight
other issues prevalent in society. The book, unlike “The Necklace” also talks about the
experience of the black people that urges the readers to sympathise with them. Racial

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discrimination is at the heart of the story and can be felt in every second line of the story. In
“The Necklace” there is no violence or brutality for the audience to witness. However, on the
other hand, in “Friday Black” there is violence, murder as well as brutality. This shows the
helplessness of the African-American citizens who are deprived as well as discriminated
because of their colour.
Thus to conclude that “The Necklace” by Maupassant and “Friday Black” by Adjeh
Brenyah exposes the harsh reality of the world and the people who are living in the society. It
shows the bitter truth of capitalism that has bought poverty for the people and has forced
them to follow consumerism where people start giving importance to wealth and materialistic
items instead of valuing the human traits within them. Though the stories were written during
two different periods, it talks about the same theme, such as capitalism and how it has harmed
the lives of the people. Through the stories, the authors want the readers to realise that money
is not everything and that one should not decide the value of life with the amount of money
that they have. Instead, people should remain happy as well as satisfied with what they have
at their disposal.

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Works Cited
Lawn, Beberly. 40 Short Stories A Portable Anthology. 5th ed., Macmillan Learning, 2017.