Over the last few days, our class has been working on short stories. The three that stood out to me the most were The Necklace, The lottery ticket and The Rocking-Horse winner because they all have something to do with money. Being a teenager, I am not aware of the importance of money; I just understand that it buys what I need. In each story I could relate to something whether it was the theme, a character or something the story symbolized. In the short story The Necklace, the main character is named Mathilde Loisel. She is the wife of a lowly clerk in the ministry of education. Mathilde feels the burden of her poverty. She regrets her lot in life and spends countless hours imagining a more extravagant life that her husband tries to provide for her. Mathilde is attending a ball with her husband but is not satisfied with what she has so she insists on buying a new dress. “No; there’s nothing more humiliating than to look poor among other women who are rich.”(Maupassant 1) Says Mathilde when her husband tries offering a different option than going out and buying an expensive piece of jewelry. Mathilde borrows a necklace from her rich friend but then loses it at the ball. Her and her husband spend loads of money on a replica of the one she lost to later find out that the necklace was just costume jewelry. Mathilde used to only think about herself and what it would be like to be rich. Going into high school I was always worried about being judged on my clothing because it was not designer. I tried my hardest to wear outfits to impress people. At the start of grade 10 something changed the way I looked at things. Nobody cares what you wear, your clothing doesn’t make you, you make you. I started feeling more comfortable to be me and I made more friends by acting like my true self. You shouldn’t need to change for anybody, if people don’t like you then that is their problem. Stick to people who bring out the best you. The short