EXTENSIVE READING

An Analysis of Comparative Literature between

The Selfish Giant and The Necklace Short Story

Compiled By:

Ganang Dwi P. (141030)

Clariisa Vasthi S. (1410302138)
Savira Ramadhani (1410302155)
Rahayu Nastiti A. (1410302202)

ENGLISH DEPARTMENT
FACULTY OF EDUCATION AND TEACHER TRAINING
TIDAR UNIVERSITY
2016
I. INTRODUCTION

1) The Selfish Giant short story

Title : The Selfish Giant
Author : Oscar Wilde
Published : Irish, around 1888
2) The Necklace short story
Title : The Necklace
Author : Guy the Maupassant
Published : French, February 17, 1884

II. The Comparison of the Intrinsic Element of The Necklace and The
Selfish Giant short
Story.

A. Plot:
Both of the short stories have the same plot. It was Dramatic or Progressive
plot because both of the stories begin with the introduction of the story, then
follows the rising action to a climax, falling action and closed by the
resolution of the problem. The difference was the conflict of each story. In the
The Selfish Giant short story, the conflict was the other characters hate the
giants attitude and gave him a revenge of his attitude toward others.
However, in The necklace short story, the conflict was just included the
main characters without any influence from the other characters. It just
showed how they solved their own problem and there is no disturbance of the
other characters. Here are the detail comparisons between both of the plot:

a. Exposition: Introduction or beginning of the story

1) The Selfish Giant :
There were some children who used to go and play in a beautiful
garden which belongs to a giant. They were very happy to play
there. All of the animals and plants there were happy too.

2) The Necklace:
There was a woman named Mathilda who always sad because she lived with her husband
in a poor condition. She was distressed at the poverty of her dwelling. She
was envy with the other woman who life wealthy.

b. Rising action: The conflict begin to happen

 1) The selfish giant:
One day, the giant returned home after seven years lived along with Cornish Ogre.
He was surprised because he found that some children were paling in his garden
without permission. He was so angry at that time, so he built a wall around his
garden and gave a warning sign reading: TRESSPASSERS WILL BE
PROSECUTED
2) The Necklace:
One evening, her husband came home and carried a big envelop which the content
was an invitation to come in an honor ball in the palace. The whole official world
will come there. She was happy to get the invitation, but she was unconfident
about what she should wear on the party. Then, her husband helped her by giving
several moneys for her to buy a new gown. Nevertheless, she hadnt satisfied
because she wanted to wear some jewelry. Then her husband asked her to borrow
it from madame Forestier. Finally she borrowed a superb diamond necklace from
Mme. Forestier.

c. Climax: The top of conflict

1) The Selfish Giant:

After the selfish giant asked them not to play in his garden, the situation has
changed. When the spring came by, the garden was still winter. The flowers didnt
want to blossom, the snow, frost and the north wind decided to stay there. The
giant wonder how can it happen only in his garden. The spring never came
there, nor the summer. The autumn gave golden fruit to every
garden, but to the Giant's garden she gave none. They didnt like
the giant because he is too selfish.
2) The Necklace:
Mathide came to the ball and she gain all of the mens attention because of her
beauty and glory. Unfortunately, when she came home she realized that she had
lost the necklace that she borrowed from Madame Forestier. She cried and
worried, his husband tried to look for it everywhere but they couldnt find it.

d. Falling action: Reducing of the conflict

1) The Selfish Giant:

One morning the Giant was lying awake in bed when he heard
some lovely music. He wondered and found out that there were
some children whom crept in his garden. He was surprised when
he saw the garden turn into the spring and a lovely garden. Only
in one corner it was still winter. There was standing a little boy.
He was so small that he could not reach up to the branches of
the tree, and he was wandering all round it, crying bitterly. The
tree tried to gain him, but he is too tiny to climb up. Trough the
accident, the giant realized that he was too selfish at that time.
Then he tried to help the children climbed up the tree and all of
 the part of his garden turned into spring. After that they saw that
the Giant was not wicked any longer because he let the children
played in his garden every afternoon, now. However, he couldnt
find a boy whom he helped and kissed.
2) The Necklace:
Mathilda and her husband tried to find a way to replace the
necklace. They went to one jeweler to another jeweler and found
the one which exactly the same, it cost thirty-six thousand francs, from its original
price of forty francs, such a very big amount of money for the couple. They were
trying many ways to get the money to buy it. The eighteen thousand francs was
inherited by her husband from his father, and the rest of the amount he borrows
from various sources. Then, they could buy the necklace and brought it back to
Madame Forestier without saying to her that they had replaced it with the new one
because hers had lost.

e. Resolution: The end of the conflict in the story.

1) The Selfish Giant: Years went over, and the Giant grew very old
and feeble. One day, he saw the little boy he had loved. Then he
came near the child and he was surprised because the child had
wounds in his hands and feet. He was angry to see that. He
asked the boy who had injured him, so that the giant could
avenge him. However, the child said that they were the wounds
of love. As the giant allowed him to play in his garden and he
could change his bad behavior, the boy take the giant to his
garden in paradise. Later, the other children found the giant lying
dead under the tree, covered in white blossom.
2) The Necklace: The couple had been very poor because they
should pay their debt. Finally, they could pay off all of their debts
in ten years. At the end of the story, Mathilda met Madame
Forestier and she told her that the original necklace had lost that
made her become very poor. Mathilda surprised when she know
that the necklace is an imitation which cost only five hundred
franc.
B. Characters and Characterization:

There are some differences between the characters of the stories. They
are:
a. First, as The Selfish Giant is a children short story, the main
character is an impossible creature in the real life. In that short
story, it was shown as a giant. In our opinion, the reason why the
writer put a giant as a main character is because children love
fantasy. They will interest with the story if the writer showed
some fiction creatures inside it. In the contrary, the writer of The
Necklace short story created the characters as real persons
because it is an adult short story.
b. Second, we will differentiate both of the short stories based on
the characterization. In The Selfish Giant short story, we can
find the character of the figures explicitly. We can conclude the
character directly by noticing the other figures said about the
character of the main figure. In our opinion, the reason why the
author did it is because he wants to deliver a moral value based
on the character of the figures easily, so the children can gain
the main message of the story directly. In contrast, The
Necklace author didnt show the character of the figures
explicitly. The readers should conclude by themselves what is the
character of each figure there.

Here are the character and the characterization of each short story:

a. The selfish Giant :

1) The Giant (Main Character):
- Selfish
Proof: He was a very selfish Giant. 'He is too selfish,' she
said.
- Regretful
Proof: He was really sorry for what he has done. 'How
selfish I have been!' he said
- Warm hearted
Proof: 'I have many beautiful flowers,' he said; 'but the
children are the most beautiful flowers of all.'
- Caring
 Proof: 'Who hath dared to wound thee?' cried the Giant;
'tell me, that I may take my big sword and slay him.'
2) The Children (minor character):
- Cheerful
Proof: 'How happy we are here!' they cried to each other.
- Coward
Proof: 'What are you doing here?' he cried in a very gruff
voice, and the children ran away.
When the children saw him they were so frightened that
they all ran away.
3) The Cornish Ogre (Minor character)
- Uncommunicative
Proof: After the seven years were over he had said all that
he had to say, for his conversation was limited.
4) The birds (minor character)
- Cheerful
Proof: The birds sat on the trees and sang so sweetly
- Ignorant
Proof: The birds did not care to sing in it as there were no
children.
- Delightful
Proof: The birds were flying about and twittering with
delight.
5) The beautiful flower (minor character)
- Ignorant
Proof: When it saw the notice-board it was so sorry for the
children that it slipped back into the ground again, and
went off to sleep.
6) Snow and frost (minor character)
- Destroyer
Proof: Every day for three hours he rattled on the roof of
the castle till he broke most of the slates.
7) The little boy (Major character)
- Sorrowful
Proof: Only the little boy did not run, for his eyes were so
full of tears that he did not see the Giant coming.
- Weak
Proof: He was so small that he could not reach up to the
branches of the tree
- Lover
Proof: The little boy stretched out his two arms and flung
them round the Giant's neck, and kissed him.
- Mysterious
Poof: But the children said that they did not know where he
lived, and had never seen him before.
 - Fair
Proof: 'You let me play once in your garden, to-day you
shall come with me to my garden, which is Paradise.'

b. The Necklace
1) Madame Mathilde (Main character)
- Pessimistic
Proof: She had no dowry, no expectations, no way of being
known, understood, loved, married by any rich and distinguished
man.
- Regretful person
Proof: Mathilde suffered ceaselessly, she was distressed at the
poverty of her dwelling.
- Dissatisfied
Proof: "It annoys me not to have a single piece of jewelry, not a
single ornament, nothing to put on. I shall look poverty-stricken.
I would almost rather not go at all."
- Doubtful
Proof: Then she asked, hesitating, filled with anxious doubt
- Dishonest
Proof: she didnt tell madame forestier that the original
necklace has lost.
2) Mr. Loisel (Mathildas husband, minor character)
- Obedient
He always obeys what his wife said. He cannot control his
wife.
- Smart
Proof: He always has many ways to solve the problem.
- Hark worker
He went to police headquarters, to the newspaper offices to
offer a reward; he went to the cab companies--everywhere, in
fact, whither he was urged by the least spark of hope.
- Caring
Proof: "Wait a bit. You will catch cold outside. I will call a cab."
3) Madame Forestier (minor character)
- Generous
Proof: She let Mathilda borrow her jewelries.
- Chilly
Proof: When Madame Loisel took back the necklace Madame
Forestier said to her with a chilly manner.
C. SETTING
The two short stories happened in almost the same time period. The
writers also published these short stories in the same year, 1888.
The setting of place was different. The place in The Selfish Giant
was influenced with the impossible character like tree that can
move, snow and frost that can speak and so on. The place was also
takes in a castle like others children short stories had. It is not far
from the castle, palace and so on. However, in The Necklace short
story, it took place in the real place like house, jewelries sop and so
on.

1. The Selfish Giant short story

a. Setting of Place: Irish (In the Cornish Ogre house, The giants
castle, The giants garden)
Proof: the story was happened in Irish because Cornish Ogre is
a name which identical with Irish people. Also, the four
seasons showed that it was in subtropical area or Europe.
b. Setting of time: around 1860
Proof: at that time the words thee and nay is still be used.

2. The Necklace short story

a. Setting of Place: France (Mathildas house, Madame Forestier
house, Palace ballroom, Jewelries shop)
Proof: Madame is an addressed for a woman in France and the
currency was Franc.
b. Setting of time: around 1880s or so

D. POINT OF VIEW
The point of view of the two short stories is the same. Both of the
short stories use Third person limited point of view. In the Selfish
Giant short story, the writer use the pronoun he and mentioned
the name of the main character, that is the selfish giant. Moreover,
the writer only knows the thoughts and feelings of the selfish giant.
Similarly, The Necklace short story showed that the writer use the
pronoun she and mentioned the name of the main character, that
is Madame Mathilda. Additionally, the writer only knows the
 thoughts and feelings of the selfish giant without knowing the
others.

E. THEME
a. The Selfish Giant
- Regret (The story tells us about the regret of the selfish
giant who always prefer himself and didnt want to share
with others)
- Peace (The end of the story tell us that the giant died
peacefully because he had changed his bad behavior)
- Religious (This story actually tells us about the religious
lesson. The little boy represents God)
b. The Necklace
- Irony (The ending of the story is on the contrary to what
the readers expect and little bit amusing because the
necklace is just an imitation)
- Dissatisfaction (The story tells us about a woman who
always feel dissatisfied with what she has in her life)

F. STYLE

a. The Selfish Giant:

- Vintage (The short story is made around 1888, so the
language used by the writer is little bit ancient like thee
and nay)
b. The Necklace:
- Economical (Almost whole of the short story tells about the
economical condition of Mathilde and her family and the
problem is also related to the economic)

G. ATMOSPHERE
a. The Selfish Giant:
- Joyful (The birds sat on the trees and sang so sweetly that
the children used to stop their games in order to listen to
them. 'How happy we are here!' they cried to each other)

b. The Necklace
- Suffering (the whole of the story tells us about the
suffering of Mathilda who always feels dissatisfied with her
life and she should replace the necklace which she had
lost)
H. MORAL VALUE
a. The Selfish Giant
- Its not good to be selfish.
- Dont be angry easily because it will hurt other people
around us.
- Tried to change your bad behavior to get the better life.
- Good things will always get the good impact too.
- Sharing is caring.
b. The Necklace
- We have to accept and be happy with what we have in our
life.
- Honestly is the best thing that we should have in our life.
Maybe, if Mathilde say the truth to Mme. Forestier that she
had lost the necklace, she might not replace the necklace
that cost so expensive.
- We should be responsible with what we have done.

I. MOOD
a. The Selfish Giant
- Light-hearted
Proof: This short story is a kind of religious lesson, so it
lights us the right way to live.
- Touched
Proof: The end of the story touches the readers heart. The
giant died peacefully and the little boy who represents the
God has taken the giant to the paradise because of his
kindness and he has changed his bad behavior.
b. The Necklace
- Despair and Misery
Mathilde spends ten years trying to replace the necklace
and pay off the bill that she lends from various sources.