“A Piece of String”

By: Guy de Maupassant

Theme:
The theme of a Piece of String has to do with the meaness, cruelty and
injustice of humanity human selfishness, wickedness, envy, spite, greed and
other bad qualities, thought of guilty, distrust and the contempt of the
peasantry.

Settings:
The setting is a small town with a country flavor. It has long roads and a
public square. The story mostly took place outside in a town called
Goderville. Hue characters in this story went many places in Goderville
they went many places in Goderville they went to the Mayor’s office and to
the public square and many other places like the maître Jourdain’s tarem.
The setting in this story is more rural.

Characters:
 Matre Hauchecorne
Maitre Hauchecorne is the protagonist in the Piece of String he’s a
thrifty man with rheumatism who does not let a discarded piece of string on
the ground got to waste. However, Maitre Hauchecorne is too proud to
allow his enemy see him pick it up. Unfortunately, his embarrassed reaction
causes suspicion and when a wallet goes missing hauchecorne is falsely
accused of stealing it.

 Maître Malandian
Is Hauchecorne’s enemy Malandian is a harness maker a person
that makes equestrian supplies, such as saddles. Hauchecorne and
malandian had once had a quarrel about a halter, and they had borne each
other malice ever since.

 William Shalespeare
Maupassant’s emotional compass is so often much more modest
and confined. Many of his more than three hundred short stories treat his
favorite subject the Norman countryside and its inhabitants meaning almost
always the peasants. It surely does not take much to undo them or to ruin
them insist Maupassant.

Conflict:
The conflict of the story arises when Hauchecorne’s adversary Malandian,
witnesses Hauchecorne pick up something fron the street.

1. The first conflict is the lack of trust.

2. The other conflict is Hauchecorne’s own pride.
3. Hauchecorne’s egotistical pursuit of his reputation.
4. The overall conflict is the corrupt socio-economic system that led to a
culture of backstabbing peasants.

The first conflict is the lack of trust namely between Hauchecorne and
Malandian. Then, hauchecorne and the mayor. But eventually, the reader
sees that it is a lack of trust amongst/between all the peasants themselves.
 Guy de Maupassant had a similar view about the peasantry, that they are
untrustworthy. Being from a higher class, he may have prejudged these
people, not thinking their craftiness and treachery is the result of a
struggling economic class.

The other conflict is Hauchecorne’s own pride it seems that Maupassant

makes it a point to note that the norman peasants were economical to the
peasants were economical to the point of bring stingly.

The overall conflict is the corrupt socio-economic system that led to a

culture of backstabbing peasants.

Complications:
The peasants milked went and came, perplexed, always in fear of being
cheated, not daring to decide watching in fear of being cheated not daring
to decide, watching the vendor’s eye, every trying to find the trick in the
man and the flaw in the beast.

The other peasant view him as a thief, but the point Maupassant ticks to
make is that the peasants do so, knowing they’d probably have stolen the
wallet if they had the chances.

At this point, Maitre Hauchecorne realizes he is ruined, the outcome of the

conflict is made clear.

Climax:
The first climax occurs when Maitre Hauchecorne is accussed of stealing
Maitre Houlbreque’s pocket book. Hauchecorne’s accuser is Mitre
Malandain his ouch enemy. The two once had a quarrel about a seemingly
inconsequential matter and have hated each other since.

One can conclude that Malandian malice hatred each other since. One can
conclude that malandian’s malice led him to accuse Hauchecorne with little
proof.

Resolution:
A “Piece of String” Maitre hauchecorne who has been exonerated of the
crime of stealing a man’s wallet has gone around to tell his story all over
again, exulting in his success. However, in his doing so the suspiciously
native of the Normans causes them to suspend belief and revert to their
natural suspicion. When Maitre Hauchecorne is punced in the stomach
and shouted at by a farmer and later called an old rascal “by another, he is
stunned.

At last he understood people were accusing him of having gotten an

accomplished to return the pocketbook.

He tried to deny it, the whole table burst into laughter.

At this point, Maitre Hauchecorne realizes he is ruined the outcome of the

conflict is made clear.
 PROJECT

IN

LITERATURE

Submitted by:
Maria Vanessa Agnes Chambon

Submitted to:
Mrs. Josephine Orzales