The narrator in the short story The Real Thing is the artist telling us about his encounter with the Monarch family. The artist had many mixed emotions through out the story. When the Monarchs first came in the story he was very happy because he thought that they were their to pay in for a painting. He thought that they were some sort of celebrities. He later found out that they were their to be models because they needed money had couldn't find a job. This made the painter feel very doubtful about the Monarchs. He knew that just because they look rich doesn't mean they really are. The Monarchs set their standards very high as they will only do certain photos, yet they turned out to be terrible models. This disappointed the artist a lot as they weren't cooperating and this affected his work in a terrible way. He then tries to get rid of the Monarchs but they end up being his servants and helping him with whatever he needs. In the end, with relief, he finally paid them a sum of money to get rid of them. "If it be true I am content to have paid the price- for the memory." This shows that in the end he was happy. The Monarchs finally showed who they were and removed their masks of being fake celebrities.