NCERT Solutions for Class 10 English Footprints Without Feet Chapter 7 - The Necklace

Page No: 39

Read and Find Out

Q.1. What kind of a person is Mme Loisel − why is she always unhappy?
Ans. Mme Loisel was a young and pretty woman who led a simple yet unhappy life. She came from a poor family but always dreamt of riches and luxuries of life. She was always unhappy as she knew her dreams could never be fulfilled. She was aware that her meagre resources weren’t enough to satisfy her expensive desires and all this made her unhappy and angry on her condition.

Q.2. What kind of a person is her husband?
Ans. Matilda’s husband Monsieur Loisel was an ordinary and simple-hearted young man. He was a small clerk in the office of the Board of Education, but he was contented with his job. With great excitement, he brought a dinner invitation of a grand party for his wife. However poor he might be, he was a caring husband as he gave four hundred francs to his dear wife to buy a pretty dress for the party.

Page No: 41

Read and Find Out

Q.1. What fresh problem now disturbs Mme Loisel?
Ans. After buying a pretty dress, Mme Loisel was bothered by yet another problem. She had no jewel to adorn herself with. She said she would have a poverty-stricken look. Her husband suggested that she should wear some natural flowers. However, she refused and said that there was nothing more humiliating than to have a shabby air in the midst of rich women.

Q.2. How is the problem solved?
Ans. Mme Loisel’s husband, Monsieur Loisel initially suggested her to wear some natural flowers as jewellery, but she refused the idea. Then, he advised her to request and borrow some jewels from her rich friend, Mme Forestier. Matilda uttered a cry of joy as she liked this wonderful idea. The next day she took herself to her friend’s house and picked a superb necklace of diamonds that matched with her beautiful attire. Hence, her husband’s timely suggestion solved her problem.

Page No: 42

Read and Find Out

Q.1. What do M. and Mme Loisel do next?
Ans. When M. and Mme Loisel realized that the necklace was missing, they tried finding out where she could have lost it. They concluded that it could have been dropped in the cab. They did not know its number. Therefore, Loisel went over the track where they had walked. When he found nothing, he went to the police and to the cab offices. He even put an advertisement in the newspapers, offering a reward. He then asked Matilda to write a letter to Mme Forestier, explaining that she had broken the clasp of the necklace and would get it repaired. This gave them time to find the necklace. However, they eventually decided to replace the necklace with a new one.

Q.2. How do they replace the necklace?
Ans. After all their efforts went in vain, M. and Mme Loisel decided to buy a fresh new identical necklace to replace the lost necklace. M. Loisel possessed eighteen thousand francs of his inheritance and borrowed the rest of the money from usurers and the whole race of lenders by making ruinous promises. When they borrowed enough money, the couple went to the merchant and bought a new necklace for thirty six thousand francs and returned it to the rightful 0wner, Mme Forestier.

Page no: 46

Think about it

Q.1. The course of the Loisels’ life changed due to the necklace. Comment.
Ans. The course of the Loisel’s life changed due to the necklace. After replacing the lost necklace with a new one, they had to replay all the money that they had borrowed to buy the new necklace. They sent away the maid and changed their lodgings. They rented some rooms in an attic. Matilda learnt the odious work of a kitchen. She washed the dishes, soiled linen, their clothes and dishcloths. She took down the refuse to the street each morning and brought up the water, stopping at each landing to catch her breath. She went to the grocer’s, the butcher’s, and the fruiter’s, with her basket on her arm, shopping, haggling to save her money. Loisel worked in the evenings, putting the books of some merchants in order. At night, he did copying at five sous a page. This lasted for ten years, and at the end of the said period, they were able to repay their lenders.

Q.2. What was the cause of Matilda’s ruin? How could she have avoided it?
Ans. Matilda’s materialistic aspirations and dissatisfaction was the ultimate cause of her ruin. She was always unhappy about her financial status and wished to be born in the midst of riches and luxuries of life. She could have easily avoided her ruin by accepting her current situation and being content with her simple life with her loving husband.

Q.3. What would have happened to Matilda if she had confessed to her friend that she had lost her necklace?
Ans. If Matilda would have confessed to her friend that she had lost her necklace, she might have been in lesser trouble than what she faced after having replaced the necklace. Her friend would definitely have been angry with her. Most probably, she would have asked Matilda to replace it. She would have given her the details from where she had bought the necklace and how much it had cost her. Matilda would thus have known that the jewels in the necklace were not real diamonds. It would have cost her a far lesser amount to replace it. Matilda would thus have saved herself and her husband all the trouble they went through.

Q.4. If you were caught in a situation like this, how would you have dealt with it?
Ans. If I had been caught in a similar situation, I would have tried my best not to become a victim of greed and unrealistic aspirations. Had I lost a friend’s necklace, I would have revealed the truth about the loss and be ready to face the consequences. I would have maintained honesty to come out of the problem and that would have definitely paved a way out for me.

Talk about it

Q.1. The characters in this story speak in English. Do you think this is their language? What clues are there in the story about the language its characters must be speaking in?
Ans. Although the characters in the story speak in English, it was probably not their language. Guy De Maupassant, the writer wrote the story in French and it was later translated into English. There are ample pointers in the text that indicate the French origin of the characters such as the salutations used before the surnames of characters such ‘Monsieur and Mme Loisel’, ‘Mme Forestier’ and ‘George Ramponneau’, the minister’s name. Besides, the words used to denote currency such as ‘Franc’ and ‘Sou’. Then, the location of the shop was at ‘Palais Royal’ and ‘Champs Elysees’ that point out the French origin and history of the characters in the story.

Q.2. Honesty is the best policy.
Ans. Honesty is indeed the best policy. We all know that hypocrisy and pride seem very rewarding and attractive initially. But, a person who follows the path of falsehood is likely to lead a life of misery, suffering and utter gloom. On the contrary, an honest person might face difficulties in life at the beginning but it ultimately gives him/her all the happiness that he/she rightfully deserves. Therefore, honesty is the ultimate choice to lead a life of contentment, harmony and eternal happiness.

Q.3. We should be content with what life gives us.
Ans. Yes, we should be at peace and contented with what life gives us. Every person in this world is born in different conditions and his/her entire life package is a great mystery. Some people are born with all riches, luxury, name and fame. On the other hand, there are some who are born in suffering and crushing poverty which makes it difficult for them to survive. Hence, there is a famous adage which says, “Cut your coat according to your cloth”. This means that one must learn to live within one’s capacity and be content with what one has. A person can try to improve his/her financial position through honest means and eventually can be happy with how he/she manages his/her life peacefully.