The Lottery Ticket: - Anton Chekhov

The Lottery Ticket
- Anton Chekhov
Characters:
-Ivan Dmitritch
-Masha
Paper Summary:
The “Lottery Ticket”, written by Anton Chekhov, is a short story about a middle class couple,whose dreams cannot
be fulfilled.But they like to be in the state of dreaming, though reality saddens them.
Ivan Dmitritch earns 1200 per year and seems satisfied with his earning in the beginning and was happy to see series
9,499 of the Lottery ticket bought by his wife Marsha in the newspaper, though he initially shows disinterest. But
when Marsha asks Ivan to check out
the Number 26 he says, "later". It’s all about Dream,which very rarely comes true. This, both Ivan Dmitritch and his
wife Masha, knows. That’s why when her husband says “We have plenty of time to be disappointed” she somewhat
agrees.He starts visualizing dreams. Ivan starts imagining things that would never happen, his second marriage,
relatives asking for money and getting jealous, his wife Masha putting the money in safe and locking it with keys,is
his dream too. He thinks this way, because they have never kept their money in safe,as they earn less. But they are
trying to be happy with this income and his wife buys tickets to fulfill their hidden wishes and,though Ivan doesn’t
show his interest in ticket deep
down, he too wants to win the prize money of 75,000.And it seems that they pray everyday that some miracle will
happen and bring smile in their life. But when in the end, the Lottery number is not 26, all their dream shatters. And
so there is sudden change in his thinking, as he comes back to reality. And the truth reveals that he actually wants to
die. And he was pretending to be happy.
It’s a sad story which shows the difference between reality and dreams. Dreams can come true only by "hard work",
as it gives us true happiness we deserve.Hard earned money of 1200 is "precious", than winning prize money of
75,000 which may give us "happiness" but not "satisfaction".
The Necklace
-Guy de Maupassant
Characters:
-Mathilde: Pretty young woman born into a common, middle-class family. She yearns for the wealth, privileges,
and fashions of highborn young ladies.
-Monsieur Loisel: Government clerk whom Mathilde marries.
-Madame Jeanne Forestier: Friend of Mathilde. She allows Mathilde to borrow a necklace to wear to a gala social
event.
-Housemaid: Girl from Brittany who does the Loisels' housework. Her presence reminds Mathilde of her own status
as a commoner.
-Jeweler: Dealer who provides a replacement necklace.
-Monsieur and Madame Georges Rampouneau: Minister of Education and his wife, who invite the Loisels to a
party.
Paper Summary:
At the beginning of the story, we meet Mathilde Loisel, a middle-class girl who desperately wishes she
were wealthy. She's got looks and charm, but had the bad luck to be born into a family of clerks, who
marry her to another clerk (M. Loisel) in the Department of Education. Mathilde is so convinced
she's meantto be rich that she detests her real life and spends all day dreaming and despairing about the
fabulous life she's not having. She envisions footmen, feasts, fancy furniture, and strings of rich young
men to seduce.
One day M. Loisel comes home with an invitation to a fancy ball thrown by his boss, the Minister of
Education. M. Loisel has gone to a lot of trouble to get the invitation, but Mathilde's first reaction is to
throw a fit. She doesn't have anything nice to wear, and can't possibly go! How dare her husband be so
insensitive? M. Loisel doesn't know what to do, and offers to buy his wife a dress, so long as it's not too
expensive. Mathilde asks for 400 francs, and he agrees. It's not too long before Mathilde throws another
fit, though, this time because she has no jewels. So M. Loisel suggests she go see her friend Mme.
Forestier, a rich woman who can probably lend her something. Mathilde goes to see Mme. Forestier, and
she is in luck. Mathilde is able to borrow a gorgeous diamond necklace. With the necklace, she's sure to
be a stunner.
The night of the ball arrives, and Mathilde has the time of her life. Everyone loves her (i.e., lusts after
her) and she is absolutely thrilled. She and her husband (who falls asleep off in a corner) don't leave until
4am. Mathilde suddenly dashes outside to avoid being seen in her shabby coat. She and her husband catch
a cab and head home. But once back at home, Mathilde makes a horrifying discovery: the diamond
necklace is gone.
M. Loisel spends all of the next day, and even the next week, searching the city for the necklace, but finds
nothing. It's gone. So he and Mathilde decide they have no choice but to buy Mme. Forestier a new
necklace. They visit one jewelry store after another until at last they find a necklace that looks just the
same as the one they lost. Unfortunately, it's 36 thousand francs, which is exactly twice the amount
of all the money M. Loisel has to his name. So M. Loisel goes massively into debt and buys the
necklace, and Mathilde returns it to Mme. Forestier, who doesn't notice the substitution. Buying the
necklace catapults the Loisels into poverty for the next ten years. That's right, ten years. They lose their
house, their maid, their comfortable lifestyle, and on top of it all Mathilde loses her good looks.
After ten years, all the debts are finally paid, and Mathilde is out for a jaunt on the Champs Elysées.
There she comes across Mme. Forestier, rich and beautiful as ever. Now that all the debts are paid off,
Mathilde decides she wants to finally tell Mme. Forestier the sad story of the necklace and her ten years
of poverty, and she does. At that point, Mme. Forestier, aghast, reveals to Mathilde that the necklace she
lost was just a fake. It was worth only five hundred francs.
In "The Necklace," by Guy de Maupassant, the main character, Madame Mathilde Loisel, is a beautiful
woman; she and her husband have little money. She is never satisfied with what they do have. Mathilde
cannot be happy with the life to which she has been born— something that cannot be changed. Still she
tries. When she borrows the necklace from a friend to wear to a party (to impress others), it leads to
disaster, and Mathilde ends up a bitter, hardened woman. She could not escape the inevitable truth of
her place in society.

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