1

NAME: SUMAIRA MAJEED

BS ENGLISH 8TH

ROLL NO: 266

REGISTRATION# ENGBS-MF13-ID182

TITLE: “A COMPARATIVE MARXIST ANALYSIS OF‘THE

LOTTERY’ AND‘THE NECKLACE’ (TURNITIN COPY)

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION

Literature is a piece of writing which can be of any mode whether fiction or

non-fiction. It can be a poetry or a short story, novel, biography, autobiography, prose
or even. A short story is a literary work which is not too long and can be easily read
and comprehend by the reader.

Marx sees the world as a split society as has been divided into two social
classes i.e. bourgeoisie and proletariat. Marxism is the analysis of the division of the
world into classes .It analyses the class relation and social conflicts between them. It
observes literary works as rumination of the social body from which they start.
Marxist criticism also suggests that historical approach is different to the
reflectionalism. Marxism tends to focuses on alienation, exploitation, class
consciousness, labour theory value, ideology and historical dialecticism[ CITATION
Sla75 \l 2057 ].

Short stories like “The Lottery” and “The Necklace” are the reflection of
Marxism in our society. Short stories don’t have many themes to convey because they
lack a complex plot and the storyline is quite easy to comprehend. The Modern short
stories emerged from United States, France and Germany.
 2

1.1 Background And Concept

The struggle for power between different social classes is observed under this
theory known as Marxism. Karl Marx (1818-1883), a German philosopher, and
Friedrich Engels (1820-1895), a German sociologist were the two initiators of this
school of thought. Marx was inspired by a number of classics like Kant, Hegel,
Ludwig Feuerbach and British economist Adam smith. Marx vision of socialism
transpired from the capitalism. This struggle is divided into two major classes: the
capitalists, who control the productive resources, and the workers or proletariat, who
must work in order to survive. "Marxism" is essentially Marx's analysis of the
complex and developing relations between these two classes. Industrial revolution
brought a great poverty in the society and this led to the evolution of Marxism.

Marxist criticism believes that a piece of writing illustrates the class of the
writer and the problems he faces in his class. The writers are formed by their social
context as the consequences in which they have been living are clearly observed in
their writings. Marxist criticism tends to deal with the social class problems, clashes
of different ideologies and materialism. Marxists generally view literature "not as
works created in accordance with timeless artistic criteria, but as 'products' of the
economic and ideological determinants specific to that era"[ CITATION Placeholder1 \l
2057 ]. Society has been divided and there are many problems in it for example
economic, financial and social. And the reflectionists believe that this all is due to the
ills of the capitalists[ CITATION Ope161 \l 1033 ].

The traditions of the society develop a certain psychology in the human

beings. These two stories clearly show that how the psychology was developed of the
people of the village that they were even ready to take the lives of human beings and
on the other hand Madam Loisel was not ready to go in the party in her normal
clothes only because of the traditions. Traditions are the cause of the anguish of the
middle class. And these traditions usually affect the lower strata of the society. These
traditions sometimes force people to overcome their social position by hook or crook.
 3

Shirley Jackson’s story depicts how the bourgeoisie controls the proletariat.
“The Lottery” a short story shows how a rich person Mr. Summers manipulates the
poor of the village. This story clearly shows that what would happen when these class
distinctions grew to such an extent that the rich are even able to take away the lives of
the poor. This story is evidence to the future of mankind which has been divided in
many classes. This story reflects that the war and disturbance is still present in the
world. “The Necklace” by Guy De Maupassant clearly proves that the economic
conditions show one’s class. This story depicts that the struggle of a proletariat to
become a bourgeoisie causes her a lifetime problem. We all are entangled in cultural
and traditional practices and they cause a havoc for us.

This research engulfs all the problems caused by the Marxist society. A
comparative Marxist analysis would elaborate.

1.1.2 Research Objectives

The objectives of this study are:

a) To increase an awareness among the people so they can fight for their rights.
b) To have an economic parity among people.

1.1.3 Research Questions

a) How Marxism can be elaborated by Shirley Jackson “The Lottery” and Guy
De Maupassant “The Necklace”?
b) How does the writer indicate the inequalities prevailing in our societies?

1.1.4 Statement of Problem

 4

Marxism originated in mid late 19th century. Much work has been done since
its origin. Marxism brought awareness among the people. It discussed the social
indifferences among the classes. Short stories help us a lot in understanding the
concept of Marxism. Therefore through this study this awareness would reach to a
maximum number of people as short stories can be read by everyone. Through this
study the concept of Marxism would even reach to the students.

1.5 Statement of Hypothesis

“The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson and “The Necklace” by Guy De Maupassant
helps to create an understanding of Marxism.

1.6 Delimitation

The topic of my thesis is “Creating Awareness on Marxism using Short

Stories”. The subject of my study is limited to the undergraduate level.

1.7 Significance of Study

This study would encourage the readers to study the literature as short stories
are very easy to read. The genre of short stories would flourish. Thematic short stories
are often not told. This would increase the importance of short stories. This study
would create awareness about our surroundings. This study would facilitate in
understanding the concept of Marxism.

1.8 Chapter Breakdown

Topics are divided as:

a) Introduction
b) Literature Review
c) Methodology
 5

d) Content analysis of lottery and the necklace

e) Conclusion
f) References

CHAPTER 2 Literature Review

According to Karl Marx the world has been through the struggle between the
have and have not. The world is a split society and has been divided into bourgeoisie
and proletariats. Since histories this division prevails. The property less class is being
exploited by the property owning class. There is a need to overcome the barrier
between the rich and poor. The downtrodden class has been suffering since the
industrial revolution emerged [ CITATION Mar48 \l 2057 ].

Karl Marx and Friderick Engel had same thinking towards the capitalism.
Both of them were against this thinking so they started to work jointly and wrote a
book known as “The Communist Manifesto” and this became one of the most popular
work for explaining the Marxism. They wrote another book together known as the
“Das Kapital”[ CITATION Mar48 \l 2057 ].

In the early days of the Soviet Union Leon Trotsky and Rosa Luxemburgh did
not conform to the theory of Marxism but later on they showed their legitimacy for
the Marxism. After world war two the theory of Marxism gained much importance. In
1990 after Warsaw Pact the communism disappeared from countries like Soviet
Union and it only remained in the countries like Cuba, China, some states of Africa
and Asia. Marxism is a doctrine which promised a glorious future but it became an
unachievable thing in future. All the predictions done proved to be very wrong. And
this theory proved to be an incomplete ideology as they never explained the
communist economy in detail.[ CITATION Luk17 \l 2057 ]

Gyorgy Lukacs (1885-1971) who was a Hungarian was a true supporter of

Marxism and he came up with a new branch of Marxism known as “Western
Marxism” with the themes like class consciousness, totality and reification. [ CITATION
Got89 \l 2057 ]. The Frankfurt School, based at the Institute for Social Research in
Frankfurt in the 1930s, consisted of a huge number of neo-Marxist philosophers,
 6

including Theodor Adorno (1903-1969), Max, Horkheimer (1895-1973), Leo

Löwenthal (1900-1993), Erich Fromm (1900-1980), Herbert Marcuse (1898-1979)
and Jürgen Habermas , who met to discuss the failure of Marxism and Communism.
They discussed about the West to try to understand the success
of Capitalism and Fascism [ CITATION Fee15 \l 2057 ].

Marxist thinking on literature has been influenced by the French Marxist

theoretician Louis Althusser. He introduced many key features and many
terminologies. He used the terminologies like Ideology and over determinism.
According to Althusser every type of science can transfer facts but only art can
transfer facts in a real sense[ CITATION Ste17 \l 2057 ].

Many social writers and novelists have addressed this topic in their writings.
They discussed the inequality between the two strata’s of the society. The living
standards, views of lower class and ethical corruption of upper class are also depicted
in these writings. Marxists generally view literature "not as works created in
accordance with timeless artistic criteria, but as 'products' of the economic and
ideological determinants specific to that era."[ CITATION Abr99 \l 1033 ]

A lot of work has been done on Marxism. This principle is not only applicable
in economics but using this theory a lot of work has been done in literature as well.
Marxists believe that a piece of literature shows its origin and history. A Marxist
critic is the one who keeps a careful eye on the society and carefully observes the
issues of power, money, and exploitation[ CITATION Del17 \l 2057 ].

Literature is not only the work done for aesthetic pleasure but it also showed
ideology and economic conditions prevailing at that time[ CITATION Abr991 \l 2057 ].

Raymond Williams was a Welsh academic novelist and a critic. He had a

significant contribution to Marxist critique of culture and arts. His major works are
“Culture and the Arts” (1958) and “The Long Revolution” (1961). He discussed
cultural materialism according to Marxist framework. This work shows how a
bourgeoisie have succeeded in affirming its own culture, literary, social and economic
standardized to review the works done by Karl Marx. He discussed in his book that
Marxist theory has failed to discuss the bourgeoisie notion of culture. Williams also
 7

noted in his book that hegemony plays a great role in the social injustice done in the
society and it affects the cultural practices as well[ CITATION Wil771 \l 2057 ].

A huge number of books and novels have been written using this theory.
Elizabeth Gaskell a novelist wrote about Marxism. Her novel “North and South”
gained much importance. [ CITATION Jac481 \l 2057 ]After the industrial revolution in
England the masses were divided into two parts i.e. proletariat and bourgeoisie. The
industrial revolution disturbed the centuries old system of living. This is based on
manufacturing town in Manchester[ CITATION Eli54 \l 1033 ].

William Faulkner discusses about the Marxist criticism in his short story
known as “barn burning”. This was published in 1939.This story tells us how a
proletariat gets rid of his frustrations by burning the barns of the upper class. Faulkner
in fact wants to show that human sensibility can be varied by social and economic
conditions and they can hinder their relations [ CITATION wil39 \l 1033 ].

Guy de Maupassant was French writer. He wrote a short story known as “The
Necklace”. This story signifies that our economic conditions determine our class and
they affect our standards of lives. This disparity results in class distinction [ CITATION
Guy84 \l 1033 ].

Lorraine Hansberry was a daughter of an African-American slave. She has

observed this class division and inequality keenly. She wrote a play “A Raisin in the
Sun” which clearly depicts the theory of Marxism. This play is all about the struggle
of a lower-class black family to gain the acceptance of a middle class. This play
revolves about the theme of materialism versus spirituality. Materialist people always
focus on money and other physical relations whereas spiritual or lower class people
rely more on love, family, religion etc. Two different standards of living result in
class distinction[ CITATION Lor59 \l 1033 ].

Terry Eagleton is a literary critic and writer. He wrote a book known as “Why
Marx was Right”? This book gives an overview about the Marxist concept and tends
to explain that we need Marxism more than ever we need it. He picks up ten questions
about Marxism and tends to answer them in this [ CITATION Ter11 \l 1033 ].

Joseph Conrad a novelist wrote a novel known as “Heart of Darkness” which

is a direct critique on the western upper bourgeoisie class who tend to dominate the
 8

poor, lower class people of Africa. They are subjugated by the upper class because
they were rich in the resources like ivory. Kurtz one of the main characters shows the
upper class and how they dominate the poor African people. He started to think
himself as the God and through this novel Conrad has tried to highlight the issue
between the have and have not. He has tried to elaborate that how the bourgeoisie
think themselves as the most “civilized” and “refined” human beings and others are
just animals. Bourgeoisie always show that they are in a try to civilize the proletariats.
They tend to justify their savagery[ CITATION Con99 \l 2057 ].

Karl Marx wanted the oppressed class to wake up for themselves and rise
against the upper class. This movement was basically a wakeup call for them so there
is an end to this oppression. Karl Marx was the one who motivated the people for
their own rights. This movement was against the capitalist society in which one class
gets richer and the other class gets poor with the passage of time. And the rich class
oppresses the poor class. Oppressed class has no one to approach and they are crushed
on such a capitalist society. All the means of production are controlled by the upper
class of the society and the lower class has no choice accept obeying the rich
[ CITATION Mar94 \l 2057 ].

Marxism is followed by a number of themes. It leads to many such things as

exploitation, alienation, class distinction, oppression, degradation, misery and process
of transformation [ CITATION Kar67 \l 2057 ]. When Engel travelled through
Manchester he observed that the poor people were forced to live in the slums. They
had no standard of their own. And the upper class or even the middle class did not had
the time to look at the poor. They were altogether neglected by everyone [ CITATION
Ste17 \l 2057 ].

Charles Dickens was one of the most prominent writers of his times.
According to a research his works are in relation to the Marxist philosophy. Themes
of class consciousness and exploitation, misery, alienation, sacrifice, social injustice
are to be seen in his works. All the above mentioned themes are the key points in the
Marxist theory. Dickens created all these themes in his works but these are the true
manifestations in the work of Karl Marx. The theory of Karl Marx has been
fictionalized by Dickens [ CITATION Ste11 \l 2057 ].
 9

A lot of work has been done in literature by keeping in mind this philosophy.
Many stories, novels have been written on this topic. A lot of research has been done.
But the way I am going to do the research is quite different. No one has ever tried to
compare the two short stories and enlist how the traditions and customs have forced
the lower class to suffer? Class consciousness and class distinction has resulted into
the exploitation of the lower class. But my research would try to put a light on how
traditions effect the lower class particularly. Traditions would have been followed
since centuries as they don’t effect the rich but the poor have died because of these
traditions. In the two short stories i.e. The Necklace and The Lottery traditions and
customs are the two key features and they result in the suffering for the whole life and
death respectively. These two stories show that what happen when the evil traditions
become stronger than anything in the world[ CITATION Goo17 \l 2057 ].

A comparative Marxist analysis would be done of the two short stories and it
would be seen that how the lower class suffer in the two short stories because of the
traditions and customs followed blindly. This research would be quite effective as it
would help to lessen the exploitation done by the rich class. People would have an
awareness that traditions should not be followed blindly.

This research would be done by applying the framework of Marxism. Marxist

analysis of the two literary texts would be done. The research would be qualitative in
nature. Content analysis of the two short stories “The Necklace and The Lottery”
would be done.
 10

CHAPTER 3 Research Methodology

3.1 Research Design

The research will be carried out through the Qualitative design.

3.2 Research Method

The research would be carried out by the content analysis of the stories.

3.3 Theoretical Framework

Theoretical framework is the backbone of the whole topic and it shows how
the entire research would be carried out. The theory which is used is Marxism by Karl
Marx. The theory basically shows that the world has been divided into two parts i.e.
Bourgeoisie and a proletariat. Bourgeoisie exploit the poor for their own personal
benefits. Class difference results in the exploitation and exploitation is a major point
in the theory of Marxism. This research would be focusing on the exploitation of
lower by the upper strata of the society.

a) By bourgeoisie we mean the upper strata of the class and proletariat shows the
lower strata of the class. The lower class has no means of production and they
are dependent on the upper class for their living [ CITATION Placeholder2 \l
1033 ].
b) The laborers have to sell their powers to the upper class in order to earn the
money[ CITATION Mar47 \l 1033 ].
c) For making any commodity the most essential thing is the commodity and the
commodity in the Marxist society is the labor[ CITATION Mar98 \l 1033 ].
d) Marxism is defined as the method of the socio economic analysis that analyzes
class relations and societal conflict using a materialist interpretation of
historical development and a dialectical view of social transformation. “The
Lottery” by Shirley Jackson and “The Necklace” by Guy De Maupassant is the
 11

best example of Marxism which depicts the struggle and suffering of the lower
class. This research would be from the Marxist point Of view.
 12

CHAPTER 4 Data Analysis

4.1 Karl Marx Theory of Exploitation

According to Karl Marx, all the societies are different from each other and this
difference arises due to the change in living styles and means of production of the
people living in that peculiar society. Marxism is a 19 th century theory which is
considered to be true and valid and its validity can be proven. Karl Marx observes that
society is not equal and the distribution is for no means. The bourgeoisie suppress the
proletarians of their regions and gain benefits from them. In return the proletariat have
to face a lot of difficulties and hence a class struggle begins. This clash is for the
diametrically opposed interests and the lower class face the consequences mostly.
And this clash between the two types of societies preceded back to histories. In the
“Communist Manifesto” Karl Marx states that “The history of all hitherto existing
society is the history of class struggles”[CITATION Mar481 \p 2 \l 2057 ].

To understand the exploitation the split of societies into two classes is very
important. Karl Marx divides the classes according to the working class and labourers
and the labour owners or the independent class. The lower class of the society is
dependent on the upper class of the society for the wealth and money and the rich
class being independent suppress the working class. The working class is paid less
than the value they give and hence generating surplus value. These all are the ills of
the capitalistic society.

4.2 Classes in Capitalistic Society

According to Karl Marx the capitalistic world has been divided into two major
classes i.e. Bourgeoisie and the Proletariats. This division doesn’t stop here rather it
has been divided further i.e. landlords, peasants and petty bourgeoisie. [ CITATION
Luk17 \l 2057 ]
 13

4.3 The Bourgeoisie and the Proletariat

By the term bourgeoisie Karl Marx means the capitalistic class who own the
resources. The bourgeoisie is moving away from his family and traditions and his
everything is his money. In contrast to this the proletariat is the working class who are
suppressed by the bourgeoisie of the society. The number of proletariat is always
greater than the bourgeoisie. The proletariat is never given the value which should be
given to them. The bourgeoisie first raised in the feudal society and start dominating
the peasants. The peasants in return worked for them and got their earning. The
working class is not only exploited in the working areas but they are also exploited
outside the working areas where they are in search of the basic necessities of life. The
bourgeoisie can be thrown out from the society by the working class as the working
class is quite powerful in the capitalistic society. Too much suppression and
exploitation results in the anxiety among the working class hence their tendency to
overthrow the bourgeoisie increases and it puts a full stop to the exploitation [CITATION
Mar481 \p 2-22 \l 2057 ].

4.4 Exploitation in the Short Story “The Lottery”

Exploitation is one of the key feature in the theory of Marxism by Karl Marx.
The short story by Shirley Jackson “The Lottery” starts by the depiction of the
countryside that had a beautiful summer morning and the people are gathering for the
annual lottery function .The children of that town are gathered and they are busy in
collecting the stones. All the traditions related with the lottery are kept intact. People
came gossiping, women with their husbands and everyone is standing according to
their families. Mr. Summers arrives who belongs to the upper class with a black box
in his hand and Mr. Graves is holding a stool. The original black box is too old and
worn but the villagers don’t like to replace the box even. The villagers as explained by
Shirley are the blind followers of the traditions as they even do not want to change the
box. They thought it would bring them misfortune. This tradition is very very old as
Old Man Warner explains that he has been in lottery for the seventy-seventh year.
Names of people are called and they come and pick up their names from the box.
Everyone opened their papers but they were delighted to not see their paper dotted
 14

accept Tessie. People ran after Tessie and she cried “it isn’t fair, it isn’t fair” but she
was stoned to death. Tessie being a proletariat is suppressed and exploited to such an
extent that she has to sacrifice her life even for this horrible tradition.

Marxism is quite evident in this short story of Shirley Jackson as it is

portrayed through the two types of characters. Mr. Summers used to conduct lottery
as he belonged to the upper strata of the society. Mr. Summers and Mr. Graves are the
two persons from the bourgeoisie class and they rule the lower class people like
Tessie. “The lottery was conducted—as were the square dances, the teen club, and the
Halloween program—by Mr. Summers who had time and energy to devote to civic
activities”[ CITATION Jac48 \p 1 \l 2057 ].

All the arrangements of big events are done by the upper class as lower class
people are mere spectators. Bourgeoisie exploit the poor as all the hardships of events
are faced by poor. In this story Mr. Graves and Mr. Summers made the slips for the
lottery in other words we can hence say they were planning for the death of any
person under the shelter of traditions.[ CITATION Jac48 \p 2 \l 2057 ].

The physical appearance Shirley Jackson has explained about the proletariats
is quite notable. She explains the physical condition of Tessie as “Mrs. Hutchinson
came hurriedly along the path to the square, her sweater thrown over her shoulders,
and slid into place in the back of the crowd”[ CITATION Jac481 \p 2 \l 2057 ].

Bourgeoisie exploit the poor class around them and a number of ways are
chosen by them for exploitation. In this short story tradition is one of the major thing
that exploits the proletariat of the village. The traditions move back to the histories
and the upper class is one who conducts or master those traditions and the
consequences are faced by the lower working class of the society. Every nation has
some traditions which are to be followed by its people how much insane or difficult
those traditions may be. Usually it is supposed that the winner of the lottery earns a
lot but the scenario is different in this story where the winner of the story is sentenced
to death by all the villagers. The black lottery box signifies the black and dull fate of
the villagers. The box decides the fate of the villagers for the rest of the year. And
there is no wrong when traditions are followed the ills of traditions occur when they
are followed blindly. The victims of the traditions are the poor always and the rich
keep themselves away from those traditions by conducting those traditions. The
 15

following mentioned line shows how old this tradition is and the insecurity of the
villagers attached with this tradition. The age of the box has been explained by a
beautiful simile. The box is as old as Mr. Warner is old ,who is the oldest man in the
town is.[ CITATION Jac481 \p 1 \l 2057 ].

Quitting of lottery was supposed to be a sign of bad luck for the villagers. As
Old Man Warner said “Nothing but trouble in that,” Old Man Warner said stoutly.
“Pack of Young fools.” Although some of the villagers were not following the
tradition of the lottery but this specific village considers it is a stupid thing if not
followed. Traditions are very important for certain communities as they have
associated many things to those traditions. It is supposed that the traditions bring the
unity among the people. Traditions become the source of identity for many people.
People find stability in those traditions and they think that if those traditions are
abandoned they would bring bad luck. The fortune of the village was attached with
the tradition. As it has been mentioned in the lottery “Lottery in June, corn may be
heavy soon”[ CITATION Jac482 \p 4 \l 2057 ].

All the rules associated with the lottery are not changed. The villagers are the
staunch believers of the rules of the lottery. Any change in any rule of lottery can be
horrendous. Mr. Summers inquire from Hutichnson if they had anyone to draw? And
they named their daughters but the people of the town did not agree as they thought it
to be a sin. “Daughters draw with their husband’s families, Tessie” [ CITATION
Jac482 \p 5 \l 2057 ].

At the beginning of the story the children were collecting the stones. Stones
are symbolically used here for taking the lives of the people. The way the person was
sentenced to death has not been changed yet. Even today the villagers use the stones
to sentence the person to death. “Although the villagers had forgotten the ritual and
lost the original black box they still remembered to use stones”. [ CITATION Jac483 \p
7 \l 2057 ].

Tradition setters are the bourgeoisie and the ones effected from the traditions
are the lower class. The lottery signifies the ills of the world war second. It explains
about the atrocities and violence done in world war second as it appeared few years
after the world war second. This short story explains the horrors of the world war and
 16

how the rich countries fought with the poor countries. In the same way it explains the
subjugation of rich for the poor under the shelter of traditions.

4.5 Exploitation in the Short Story the Necklace

The necklace written by Guy De Maupassant is a clear reflection of the

Marxist society. It gives a true picture of the split society which Karl Marx talked
about in his works. Class difference results into the poverty and this poverty helps
rich to exploit the poor class of the society. The first line of the story clearly depicts
the proletariat class: “She was one of those pretty and charming girls who are
sometimes, as if by a mistake of destiny, born in a family of clerks”. [ CITATION
Guy84 \p 1 \l 2057 ]

According to Karl Marx the class of the person shows the type of environment
in which they live. The bourgeoisie are very strong in a capitalistic society where they
make rules according to themselves and those rules don’t harm them. They have set
certain criteria and the proletariat in order to fulfil those criteria goes into ultimate
struggle. In the short story the necklace Mathelide a young girl belonging to middle
class is married to a middle class person and she used to wore simple clothes. When
Mathelide and her husband are invited to the ball she gets in a huge trouble being a
proletariat. The invitation increased the sadness of her life and she started thinking
how to hide her poverty.[ CITATION Mau84 \p 1 \l 2057 ].

Unlike the bourgeoisie she was not excited by the party at all rather she got
vexed and she thought of arranging the dress and jewellery for the party. These are the
norms set by the upper class that everyone has to dress up well in the party with
putting on nice jewellery. This norm caused a tremendous difficulty in their lives and
to overcome the barrier of this class difference Mathelide thought of buying the
necklace from her rich friend. The friend of Mathelide even did not bother to tell her
that this necklace is not of real diamonds as she also wanted to construct a class
difference among her friend. Mathelide was looking good at the ball but when it
ended she rushed to return the necklace. In a hurry may be she dropped it, it cost her
ten years to endure for her mistake. Mathelide even did not mention about the lost
necklace to her friend as she thought that her position in the society would render less.
 17

She returned her the real diamond necklace and paid throughout her life for that
necklace. It was not an easy job for Mathelide to pay back the money of necklace and
it took her ten years to return. This demonstrates their extreme poverty. [ CITATION
Mau84 \p 6 \l 2057 ].

This story has been written when France was going through a great economic
recession. It is quite evident from the history that France in 1730s and 1740s was
quite different to what it is today. The prices of the commodities were quite higher,
wages were very low, agricultural products were costly, economy was hence
improving but the working class was being suppressed. The distance between the
upper and lower class was widening day by day. Heavy taxes were levied on people
regardless of their positions in the society. The bourgeoisie were able to pay the taxes
very easily whereas the proletariats sank more and more. France was increasing its
industry and the debts of France were also increasing. The economy of France was in
a great recession at that time. It was a time of mechanization and monopoly. The
agricultural and climatic problems increased and as a result the rates of crimes and
thefts increased. The landlords were satisfied as they were generating more income
but at the same time due to imbalance in the society they were being overturned by
the proletariats. All above mentioned imagery can be easily seen in this story as this
story is the true reflection of the Marxist society. The poverty of the proletariat
family is quite evident as the table cloth was not even changed. It was changed almost
three days ago. Mathelide imagined of elegant and exquisite dinners which nobels had
with great cutlery. The lady being poor thought of the royal food items like trout and
quail. [ CITATION Mau84 \p 1 \l 2057 ].

Being a proletariat she wished for all the luxuries in her life which were at the
distance from her. She was not excited for the party rather she was worried for her
dress as she says “And what do you want me to put on my back”? [ CITATION Mau84 \p
1-2 \l 2057 ]. A proletariat always wishes to lead a life like a bourgeoisie and they
want to experience all the luxuries of life. On the day of the party Mathelide
experienced all those things like getting drunk forgetting all her worries etc. But this
jump into the upper class forced her to pay a heavy price.

Mathelide tries to become like the rich class. In this struggle she has to face a
lot of circumstances. The shackles of the upper class are so strong that a normal
 18

person is not able to break them. He may spend his whole life in breaking those
barriers but he never succeeds in it instead he falls into the pit. And once he falls into
this pit it is very difficult to get out of this all miseries. The wings of the upper class
are spread too wide that the lower class cannot clip those wings. Mathelide brought a
dress of four hundred francs which his husband has saved for buying a gun to go for
the shooting. On hearing the wish of his wife the husband became very disturbed as
he has saved his money for buying a gun. It is a usual practice in lower class to save
money for the upcoming buyings. [ CITATION Mau84 \p 2 \l 2057 ].

The image of the party set by the upper class causes problem for the lower
class as Mathelide thinks that she couldn’t go to the party without the jewels. “It
annoys me not to have a single jewel, not a single stone, nothing to put on. I shall look
like distress. I should almost rather not go to the ball”[ CITATION Mau84 \p 2 \l 2057 ].

The jump from one strata to the other often causes problem. A sudden shift
from the class causes many problems and such a problem was faced by the lower
class in the story. And the hypocrisy of upper strata is clear as they even don’t reveal
truth to their own friends. Mme.Forstier was a good friend of Mathelide yet she hid
the information about the necklace and only reveals this point at the end of the story
that her necklace was not of diamond. “Oh, my poor Mathelide! Why, my necklace
was paste. It was worth at most five hundred francs!”[ CITATION Mau84 \p 6 \l 2057 ].

When Mathelide was in the party she believed that she has overcome all the
barriers among rich and poor. She was quite happy and satisfied. The way she was
roaming about in the party confirmed that she belonged to the aristocratic family. Her
way of drinking wine and dancing confirmed her upper class origin. (Maupassant, The
Necklace p.3)

When Mathelide ran from the ball and rushed towards her home she thought
that she should see herself in the mirror once more and suddenly she noticed that she
doesn’t have the necklace. This is the point when she remembers her status and she
recognizes what she was. The escape, the jump from the class was just a mirage. Her
reality was same as she was a poor girl even now. She belonged to the middle strata
but losing the necklace forced her into the lower strata of the society. Her problems
 19

got worsened and her situation worsened. The couple had spent their life in paying the
debt and their physical appearances changed. But the physical appearance of
Mme.Forestier was the same. She was still beautiful happy and charming. This
contrast of physical appearances clearly shows the differences among the bourgeoisie
and proletariat. A proletariat gets old red with the passage of time but the bourgeoisie
remains the same as the time passes. Nothing changes for the upper class. [ CITATION
Mau841 \p 5-6 \l 2057 ]

Exploitation is key feature in theory of Marxism. Upper class suppress the

lower strata of the society. Upper class sets the living conditions for the lower class
and the lower class has no other choice accept to follow those conditions. This
exploitation can be done as a result of class discrimination as in the necklace or as a
result of the blind following of the traditions as in the lottery. The writers of the story
clearly depict the social settings of their society and the events happening in the story
do have the link with the real life incidents.
 20

CHAPTER 5 Conclusion

Karl Marx was one of the great philosopher, sociologist and revolutionary
socialist of his time. It is not only an economic doctrine but it has paved its way into
literature as well. Karl Marx argued that world was not equal it has rather been
divided into two classes i.e. bourgeoisie and proletariat. The upper class stifle the
lower class and as a result lower class lives a life full of poverty without exercising
any rights. His theory which is known as Marxism had a great impact in 19th century.

In the two short stories “The Lottery” and “The Necklace” the two writers
have emphasized on the exploitation done by the nobility to the subordinate class.
Exploitation is the key feature in both of the stories but the way to exploit the
proletariats is different by the upper classes. American society was a blind follower of
the traditions and its traces could be seen in the story. In the short story The Lottery
the exploitation has been done by taking refuge in the eyes of the traditions. Everyone
in the village has a staunch faith that the tradition of the lottery should be continued
otherwise it would bring bad luck but every time the consequences of lottery are to be
faced by the poor only. People like Mr. Summers are the ones who conduct lottery
and they are on safe side. This story was written by Shirley Jackson after the Second
World War so the horrors of the Second World War are quite palpable in the story as
people during the lottery were very afraid of conducting it.

“The Necklace” can be also seen from the Marxist point of view. Exploitation
in this short story has been done due to the class difference between the two classes.
This class difference forced Mathelide to acquire ultimate suffering for her family.
Hypocrisy of the upper class is quite palpable in the story as Mme.Forestier doesn’t
tell Mathelide that the necklace wasn’t of real diamonds. When this story was written
by Guy De Maupassant it was a time of great depression and financial crisis in
France. The barrier between upper and lower class has widened to a large extent. Guy
tried to highlight the hypocrisy of bourgeoisie, depression and suffering of proletariats
and the ills of class difference in a society.

Karl Marx was the first one to realize this difference and formulate a theory on
this basis. Marxism urges that there should be equality. Karl tried to explain the
tribulations of the capitalistic society. The monopoly of the upper class should come
 21

to an end and everyone should be treated equally. The comparative Marxist analysis
of these two short stories from two different regions portrays that Marxism is
prevalent everywhere in this world. The poor class is same everywhere and they have
to face the exploitation by the bourgeoisie. And Karl Marx believes that this bloody
system of capitalism would come to an end and there would be harmony among the
people and if it continues like this it would be a disaster. The ways of exploiting the
lower class by the upper class are merely different.

A number of researches should be done on Pakistani short stories having the theme of
Marxism. Seminars should be organized in universities so that students are aware of
the terminology Marxism and an end to exploitation begins. Other key factors such as
hegemony, class consciousness of Marxism should also be researched upon.