The short story explores the topics of love, truth, and unconditional flattery toward a person. The main character of the story, who is unnamed throughout the whole narrative, lost his love because of her disease. Now he visits the cemetery, unable to manage his distress and loneliness. In the end, however, her grave reveals that she died because of the cold she caught when going to her lover (De Maupassant, 1910). The author wants to tell readers that love and flattery often blind and ignorant people to the truth. The main character loved the woman so much that he did not suspect her unfaithfulness. I agree with the author’s point of view because trust is essential in love. While believing in the beloved one’s innocence may be a naive action, it is crucial to trust in order for the relationship to thrive.
The story employs a first-person perspective, which tells readers that all descriptions and interpretations in the narrative are subjective. For instance, when the main character says that the woman loved him, readers cannot be confident that it is true. The end of the story reveals her unfaithfulness, and it is not definite that the woman loved him. Subjectivity introduces many other potential interpretations – when the man speaks of the dead coming out of their graves to replace stones with confessions. It may be that the main character is merely dreaming and that the woman did not betray him. A third-person perspective on this narrative would bring objectivity, and readers could make accurate assessments and uniform interpretations. The author, however, deliberately chose to use first-person narration because emotions cannot be objective – each person feels them differently.
Reference
De Maupassant, G. (1910). Was it a dream?. Web.