The Real Value of Treasurable Moments in Achebe's "Civil Peace" and Maupassant's "The Necklace"

What makes something valuable or a treasure is not determined for their actual worth but for the value you are able to give or see in them. In the storyarticle “The Necklace” we can come across two different types of values, the value that is actually worth and the value that the character gave it. Later on in “Civil Peace” another short story we are able to see the main character Jonathan who seems to have found value in a different aspect that does not depend necessarily on materialistic needs. In the article by Marie Arana called “La Rinconada, Peru, Searching for Beauty in Ugliness,” we can perceive a different type of value which one would call artificial value. Value can be determined on how much the item can be sold for or bought for but it can also determine the sentimental value it represents to you. It is the perception the thought that creates the value.

In the short story “The Necklace” we stumble upon Madame Loisel who’s a middle class women who desires to have all class of luxury’s. The plot arrives when she asks to borrow a “diamond necklace” from her wealthy friend but loses it. Madame Loisel cherished that necklace and it meant so much to her that she had to work a decade to replace it since she thought it was worth a lot. At the end when her friend explains to her that it had no value whatsoever she refused to believe that such a beautiful “diamond necklace” whom she had valued and treasured a lot meant nothing to her friend.

Therefore we can observe the two sides one being the reality which is that it had no artificial value. Primary meaning nothing if someone were to buy it and the other side being the value that Madame Loisel gave the necklace making it become a treasure.

In “Civil Peace” another short story we deduced that the main character, Jonathan has had a rough past. Him and his family being a low economic class family had just gotten twenty pounds counted into his palms, which he treasured that money and was extra careful with it. Later on in the story some burglars knocked into his door and ordered him to give them one hundred pounds to which he responded he only had twenty so they took it. Jonathan valued his family’s life more than the money he could lose by which he quotes, “I count it as nothing, What is egg rasher? Did I depend on it last week? Or is it greater than other things that went with the war?”. By this we may infer that Jonathan valued his family and his kids more than any price possession he could ever have. He could care less because his family had more sentimental value than artificial value for materialistic belongings.

Ultimately in the article by Marie Arana a famous journalist and author it explains the worth of the small city in Peru called “La Rinconada”. This famous journalist went on a trip to La Rinconada to write a script. She mentions the chronicle set of events that occurred during her time visiting. La Rinconada was a very ugly and poor city however it was rich in gold since it had a variety of miners allocated to work in gold mines on very poor working conditions. She explains how although La Rinconada was worth a lot of money the city really hasn’t much value itself since the working conditions and the climate and are very mediocre. On stanza thirty two of the articles “La Rinconada” Marie states, “Even here, on this plundered peak, there are fleeting moments of joy” meaning that she find that city treasurable despite its circumstances.

To sum it up, one may believe that value is found in the worth of things while others affirm that the value is the worth you can give to something and what it means to you. Some moments and memories can become treasurable since it’s something that you can’t buy back. It is the perception the thought that creates the value. It’s not necessary to spend much money on something for it to become valuable most of the time we have valuable things in front of us and we don’t see that. In order for one to cherish the small things in life they have to learn how to value them first and treasure the most memorable moments and not look in the worth or price of things because you give it the value it doesn’t come with a tag.