Within Guy de Maupassant’s “A New Year's Gift” and “Mother Sauvage” stories, two sets of coincidental events underline the affection of specific characters toward other characters. To this end, within “A New Year's Gift”, Irene arrives at Jacques de Randal’s house when de Randal is alone at night. Thanks to this coincidence, de Randal accepts Irene’s scandalous plan, thus confirming his true love for Irene. Similarly, while hosting four Prussian soldiers in her house, Mother Victoire Simon la Sauvage coincidentally receives news about the death of Victor within “Mother Sauvage”. Thanks to this coincidence Mother Sauvage murders these four Prussian soldiers, thus highlighting her genuine love for Victor. This essay shows that coincidence highlights the love of specific characters toward other characters based on the following aspects: after Irene visits Randal’s house when de Randal is alone at night within “A New Year's Gift”, de Randal accepts Irene’s scandalous plan; and coincidence underlines Mother Sauvage’s genuine love for Victor in that, after learning that Victor has died at war within “Mother Sauvage”, Mother Sauvage murders four Prussian soldiers whom she is hosting.
Coincidence underlines de Randal’s love for Irene within “A New Year's Gift” in that, after Irene visits de Randal’s house when de Randal is alone at night, de Randal accepts Irene’s scandalous plan. In this regard, de Randal intends to spend the first night of the new year in isolation. De Randal thus allows his valet to be off duty on this particular night and remains in his house. De Randal then embarks on the task of reviewing the events of the past year and writing personal notes. Just then, Irene coincidentally arrives at de Randal’s door and rings the bell. Thanks to this coincidence, Irene affirms that de Randal loves her sincerely. To arrive at this verdict, Irene pretends that she has fought with her husband. Based on this ploy, Irene declares that she does not plan to continue living with her husband. Irene thus asks de Randal, who has been her lover for some time, to take her as his lover. Given that, after some hesitation, de Randal agrees to Irene’s scandalous scheme, Irene confirms that de Randal loves her truly (Maupassant, n.d.a). From this scenario, a reader would validly hold that Irene makes this clarification thanks to her coincidental visit to de Randal’s house at night when de Randal is alone. Consequently, coincidence enables Irene to confirm de Randal’s true love.
Within “Mother Sauvage”, coincidence similarly underlines Mother Sauvage’s genuine love for Victor in that, after learning that Victor has died at war, Mother Sauvage murders four Prussian soldiers whom she is hosting. On this note, the Prussian military has invaded France. As part of this invasion, Prussian soldiers have settled in the homes of French citizens. This way, Mother Sauvage takes in four Prussian soldiers, largely against her will. While she is providing shelter to these four Prussian soldiers, Mother Sauvage receives a letter informing her that Victor, the son, has died at war after being hit by a Prussian shell. Being resentful about her four Prussian guests, Mother Sauvage convinces these soldiers to pile up bundles of dry hay in the loft that serves as their bedroom. When these soldiers go up to sleep, Mother Sauvage fills the kitchen space underneath this sleeping chamber with straw. Afterward, Mother Sauvage lights up this straw, thus burning the Prussian soldiers to death. This way, Mother Sauvage avenges the killing of Victor by Prussian soldiers (Maupassant, n.d.b). From this situation, a reader would hold that Mother Sauvage achieves this revenge mission thanks to the coincidence of learning about the death of Victor while she is hosting the four Prussian soldiers. Mother Sauvage thus decides to avenge the death of her dear son. This coincidence thus highlights Mother Sauvage’s genuine affection for victor.
In conclusion, coincidence underlines the love of particular characters toward other characters within “A New Year's Gift” and “Mother Sauvage”. To this end, coincidence underlines de Randal’s love for Irene within “A New Year's Gift” in that, after Irene visits Randal’s house when de Randal is alone at night, de Randal accepts Irene’s scandalous plan. Similarly, within “Mother Sauvage”, coincidence underlines Mother Sauvage’s genuine love for Victor in that, after learning that Victor has died at war, Mother Sauvage murders four Prussian soldiers whom she is hosting.
