Footprints Without Feet Supplementary Reader Chapter 7 The Necklace

Loisels were invited to a ball. All the aristocrats were supposed to attend the ball. So, Matilda arranged a beautiful dress and borrowed a marvelous diamond necklace from her friend, Mme Forestier to look beautiful and rich in the ball. She lost it.
It ruined Loisels’ lives because they had to buy a diamond necklace worth thirty-six thousand dollars to buy a new necklace for her friend. They were indebted as it was a huge amount. Thus, it made them poor and snatched all their hopes of a happy life. It took away ten prime years of their lives.

Matilda borrowed a marvellous diamond necklace from her friend to attend a ball. Unfortunately, she lost it. Unable to find the diamond necklace, the Loisels had to replace it with a new one. they had to buy a new necklace worth thirty-six thousand dollars. It ruined Loisels’ lives. It made them poor and snatched all their hopes of a happy life. It took away ten prime years of their lives.
Matilda could have avoided the miserable life that she and her husband had to resort by confessing to Mme Forestier that she had lost the necklace. 

Had she confessed to her friend that she had lost her necklace, she would have lived happily. She could have avoided the misery and drugdery of ten years She would have been satisfied with her life.

Thinking herself to be born for luxuries, Matilda suffered incessantly on account of her poverty.
Matilda had a school mate who was rich. Matilda felt envious of her. Whenever she visited her, Matilda was reminded of her poverty. She cried from despair and disappointment. So she didn’t like to visit her.

Matilda was not delighted at all to receive the invitation. She knew that all the aristocrats would be there displaying their riches. So, she got spiteful and irritated. She started shedding tears. She had a deep longing to attend the party and look beautiful. But she had no suitable dress to wear for such a great occasion.

Mr Loisel had expected that Matilda would be happy to see the invitation card. He thought as she never goes out, she would be delighted to see that. To his surprise, Matilda threw the card away spitefully. She was irritated. She started crying and asked him to give tht card to his colleague whose wife was better fitted out than she was. So, he was grieved.

After the party, Mr Loisel covered Matilda's shoulders with a modest wrap to save her from cold. Thinking that wrap would look cheap as compared to the furs wrapped by the other women in the party, Matilda hurried to go to her house. She didn’t want to be ridiculed of her poverty. So she wanted to leave that place as soon as possible.

‘It’ here refers to Matilda's temporary success, fame, being rich and the fulfillment of her dreams. It was all over for her as with the end of the ball party her momentary richness also ended. She thought that she would hardly get another chance to show that they were rich and known ever again.

As soon as they reached home, Matilda got to know that she lost the diamond necklace she had borrowed from Mme Forestier for the ball. Mr Loisel went out to search the necklace but all in vain. It could not be found anywhere. Their lives changed completely since then as they had to buy a new diamond necklace to replace that one. They were bankrupt and indebted. They had to give up all their luxuries. They worked hard for ten years to pay back for the necklace. 

Mr Loisel already had eighteen thousand francs, which his father had left him. He had to borrow the rest of the amount. He had to make devastating promises when he went to borrow money from usurers and the whole race of lenders. He paid thirty-six thousand francs to buy the new necklace.

The Loisels had to buy a diamond necklace for thirty-six thousand francs to replace the one that was lost. Matilda had to cut down on the household expenses and save money while Mr Loisel worked overtime and did copying work at nights. In this way, they could repay the money in ten years.

Cutting down all the household expenses, Matilda had to work very hard all the day. She sent away the maid and did all the household chores herself. They changed their lodgings and rented some rooms in an attic. In the course of paying her debts, Matilda became old, poor and crude. She clothed like the women of butchers' and grocers'. Her hands became red and coarse. She became an ordinary and unattractive woman who spoke in a loud tone.

One Sunday, when Matilda was going to buy the things of the household she saw Mme Forestier after ten long years. Her friend was still young and pretty while Matilda had grown old and coarse. For a moment, she considered whether she should speak to her or not. Then it striked her that she had already repaid for the necklace. Moreover, she wanted to tell the reality about the necklace. 

Matilda accused Mme Forestier for her pitiful plight because it was her diamond necklace that had made them live a miserable life for ten years.
No, Mme Forestier was not at all responsible for it as she had helped matilda at the time of her need. Moreover, Matilda should've told her the truth before taking such a big decision of buying a new diamond necklace.

When Matilda blames Mme Forestier for her miseries and pitiful condition and discloses the truth to her at the end of the story, Mme Forestier tells her that her necklace was fake. It was worth five hundred francs only. This twist changes the whole course of the story. It generates sympathy for the Loisels as they wasted ten years of their lives on account of their foolishness.

He advised her that she could wear some natural flowers. On her husband's suggestion, Matilda became angry and said that there was nothing more humiliating than to have shabby air in the midst of rich women.

‘The Necklace’ has a very valuable message. Exemplifying it with the fate of Matilda, the author advocates the importance of truthfulness in our lives.
Matilda represents many men and women who belonging to poor families have a fascination for the life of rich. They can't accept themselves the way they are and never live with contentment.
Thinking herself to be born for all delicacies and luxuries, Matilda wasn’t true to herself and her life. She could never happily accept that she was born in a poor family. The poor standards of living angered her and she suffered incessantly.
When she was invited to an official ball party, she tried to hide her poverty by borrowing a necklace from her friend. She lost it. To save her from being insulted, she didn't tell the truth to her friend. She and her husband decided to replace that diamond necklace with a new one. She suffered immensely for ten long years just because of her pretentious nature, over-ambitiousness and falsehood.
Th portrayal of Matilda’s character and the crisis that she had to face eventually teaches that honesty, truth and being content are the keys to a happy life. 

People who find it hard to accept the truth about their life always crave for things that are unattainable for them. To save their false ego, they intend to make an impression on others and don’t really see the dangers coming along. Ultimately, they fall a prey to those dangers and suffer from miseries. On the other hand, people who resort to humility accept the truth about their share of happiness and riches. They don't have a false ego which can be contented by gratifying their fascinations. They don't run after those things that are unachievable for them. Hence, they are always down to earth and don’t really fail in life. 
Being humble, a man can always observe his true abilities and with careful planning succeeds in achieving his aim. 

Mme Loisel is born to a poor family but she could never accept this fact. She thought she is born to live a luxurious life and always craves for affluence. Her poverty always tortures her. On account of her impoverished condition, she is always unhappy.

M. Loisel solved his problem by advising her to request her friend, Mme Forestier to lend her some jewels. Accordingly, she went to Mme Forestier and borrowed a diamond necklace for the occassion.

They waited for a week to find the necklace. Eventually, they could not find it and decided to replace it. They went to a shop of the Palais-Royal where they found a chaplet of diamonds, which seemed to them exactly like the one they had lost. They bought it for thirty-six thousand dollars.

For self-attempt.