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Charlie Self

Mr. Williams

9th Lit Comp

February 26, 2024

Social Norms

Throughout the course of history, women have been battling for their rights in and out of

society. In stories like the “Gift of the Magi” and “Desiree’s Baby” they show how women have

played different roles within the household and in public areas. These stories allow us to see how

women like Desiree and Della were treated and what sacrifices had to be made for social

standing and marriage.

These women show the roles that had to be endured throughout different time periods,

and how these guidelines directly affected how they navigated their daily lives. In “Lamb to the

Slaughter”, it states, “And I know it’s kind of a bad time to be telling you, but there simply

wasn’t any other way. Of course, I’ll give you money and see you’re looked after” (Carr). Mary

can be compared to a baby lamb; this is because Mary is submissive and chooses to put aside

personal wants and desires. To further explain this, Mary was in love with Patrick, but he had

fallen out of love with her and wanted a divorce. Since Mary was still deeply in love with

Patrick, she was feeling a mixture of emotions that affected her thoughts and actions. Mary

unable to suppress those feelings killed Patrick out of anger and sadness. This shows a sacrifice

of Patrick’s life, this catastrophic event can be compared to a human version of a sacrificial lamb.

The origin of the sacrificial lamb comes from the Bible, many examples of sacrifice are present.

While the Bible was written thousands of years ago, believers in the Christian faith still practice

different sacrifices in modern day. Of course, variants are present with different branches of the
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religion common examples are preforming good deeds for others, sharing personal belongings

with less fortunate, and honor the Lord through different activities. To break down one of these

examples, honoring the Lord goes beyond showing up for services it goes outside the church

family. Things like going on missionary trips are a modern-day example of honoring the Lord.

When a person goes on a missionary trip many sacrifices are made the largest being the persons

lifestyle. In “Gift of the Magi”, sacrifices were made to improve the life of the other. This is

shown when it states, “The James Dillingham Youngs were very proud of two things which they

owned. One thing was Jim’s gold watch. It has once belonged to his father. And, long ago, it had

belonged to his father’s father. The other thing was Della’s hair” (Henry). They both sacrificed

their most prized possessions for each other; Della sacrificing her hair for the watch chain, and

Jim giving his watch for a comb. Some would argue that if two sacrifices like this are made, they

cancel out, when in fact it shows the opposite. It represents the importance of one another in the

relationship, so if anything, it resembles the bond they have for each other even though a

sacrifice was made on both sides. Della and Mary both lost things very close to their heart, and it

represents how people, especially women, will sacrifice things of high significance for someone

they love.

In these sacrificial examples it is also evident that there is a social norm of hierarchy. This

is evident in the “Gift of the Magi” when it states, “You’ve cut off your hair?” asked Jim slowly.

He seemed to labor to understand what had happened. He seemed not to feel se he knew”

(Henry). Relating back to sacrifice she cut her hair off and Jim sacrificed his watch; she will

grow back the hair she has lost, but for Jim to get his watch back different measures would have

to occur to end with him getting a watch. Although Della’s hair will go back it will affect Jim and

his social status or his position in the hierarchy of the community. Women are supposed to be
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able to clean up and stand beside their husband in social situations. Without Della’s hair she has

lost her beauty and femineity to society, and now has the hair like a boy. Even if Jim doesn’t

mind the look of it, it still has an effect on his position in society. Within the same social norm

Desiree jeopardized her and her child’s life for Armand’s social status and money. In “Desiree’s

Baby”, it states, “She disappeared among the reeds and willows that grew thick along the banks

of the deep, sluggish bayou; and she did not come back again” (Chopin). Desiree knew the secret

that Armand’s family held but chose to protect him and his status at the price of losing her house

and family. The hierarchy shown in these examples sounds like a concept that causes family

breakup, hardships, and pressure. That is how hierarchy was viewed until society began to

evolve, as this is a slow process it took hundreds of years to break this view of hierarchy. Present

day hierarchy is found in varies different elements of people’s day-to-day life. An example that is

most prevalent in the average person’s life is their place of employment. It is more common in

corporate jobs but can still be identified. In these jobs you have roles like CEO, COO, manager,

and many in between. This modern version of hierarchy is not seen as a negative thing, in fact

these roles are necessary for the company to function. Along with it helping the function of the

company it also helps the drive of employees, which is the opposite of how hierarchy was in

these stories.

With a high social status people maintain and gain money. It is a common saying that

money equated to happiness, and this can be disproved by many of the female roles in the

stories. In “The Necklace”, it states, “Her tastes were simple because she had never been able to

afford any other, but she was as unhappy as though she had married beneath her; for women have

no caste or class, their beauty, grace, and charm serving them for birth or family, their natural

delicacy, their instinctive elegance, their nimbleness of wit, are their only mark of rank, and put
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the slum girl on a level with the highest lady in the land” (Maupassant). Mathilde did not come

from a wealthy family, although Mathilde would be attending an event surrounded with many

wealthy women. She was given the option to wear a very elegant piece of jewelry, one that was

very costly. She felt that by wearing this she would fit in with the other women, only to realize

later it would put her more behind these women than ever. Once she lost the necklace, she must

pay off the debt through ten years of rigorous work. With her having to work these ten years it

shows a sacrifice of her time. Instead of being able to freely live going about as she pleases, she

is forced to work this debt that she has acquired off. Mathilde quickly realized that having nice

things does not always give you the outcome you want, and that money does not always bring

happiness to people. Instead of bringing joy to people it can instill fear within them like how

Mathilde felt before wearing the necklace. In an alternative perspective Mathilde could have

been happy if she hadn’t lost the necklace. While Mathilde would have less worry and her

sacrifice would not have had to have been made, she still would not have money. Mathilde would

just return to her previous lifestyle where she was very unhappy. In “Desiree’s Baby” Desiree left

Armand for him to keep his heir, or the money that his child will one day inherit. This provides

more evidence that money can tear people apart just like Desiree, Armand, and Desiree’s baby

were separated.

Throughout all stories the women found in them have played vital roles in

showing the different struggles they had to go through. Now women have more freedom than

ever. They are now able to create their own social norms and not be confined to the norms set by

the men and women before them.

Works Cited

Carr, Margaret. “Lamb to the Slaughter”. Linford, 1992.

Chopin, Kate. Complete Novels and Stories. Library of America, 2002.

Digest, Elder’s. “Modern-Day Sacrifices.” Elder’s Digest,

www.eldersdigest.org/en/2018/4/modern-day-sacrifices. Accessed 26 Feb. 2024.

Henry, O. “The Gift of the Magi”. Penguin Classics, 2022.

Maupassant, Guy De. A Piece of String ; the “Diamond Necklace”. Perfection Form Co., 1980.

SDSU Extension. “Networks, Hierarchies, and Power in the 21st Century.” SDSU Extension, 26

Oct. 2021, extension.sdstate.edu/networks-hierarchies-and-power-21st-century.