The Hermeneutic Code

Here, the reader tends to disclose certain secrets by asking several

questions of his/her knowledge as “what is happening and why is that
happening? What is the obstacle?
the hermeneutic code enables reader to resolve the puzzling and equivocal scenes
1. This passage also poses a string of unanswered questions though it answers or slightly numbs
the inquisition. Why was Stone unaware of the old man before? Why was he dressed, and
heaving so? What was he doing there?
3. This is in essence how the hermeneutic code manifests in this picture. The question of where
the roads lead to, and the mental perplexity in not being able to follow them both.
4. the title of the story, A Pair of Jeans, appears as an enigma. Albeit the title catches the interest
of the reader but it also has some mystery in its meaning. It obliges the reader to ask why the
story is entitled as such. It also compels readers to raise several questions about the significance
of this title. For example, a reader may ask what should be the genre of this story. Is it an irony?
Is it a comedy? Is it a satire? Is it a cultural story? Is it modern story? It is a mystery, a riddle for
a reader who cannot understand the theme until s/he knows the meaning of this title.

5. What is the lady in the picture doing with those pinecones, and why is her face hidden? What
is she looking at? Is there an immediate question of danger?

The proairetic code

The proairetic code helps the reader to understand the chronological sequence of an action and
its reaction

--The implementation of these two codes permits the reader to recognize the
essence of the plot.
1. Here, as in the example above, the author connects one plot point to the next logically
succeeding one to tell a story. It is clearly obvious how the sisters receive an invitation, how they
spend time in choosing dresses and what happened to Cinderella when the step sisters left.
.
2. These actions alarm the readers that something bad is going to happen with Miriam.

The Semantic Code

According to Barthes , all narratives have some definite “characters, places
and objects” that connotatively help the reader to understand the theme of
the text
1. Her dress (jeans and short vest) implicitly refers to her immorality, anti-religious (anti-
Muslimism) feelings, modernity, and her feminist rather rebellious nature.
4. black garb symbolizes the devil and evil forces in the world
The Symbolic Code
The code refers to the contrasted elements of the text by which the reader. Through this code
the reader focuses on the binary polarities.

The natural processes have been normally called upon to compare or assert humanly qualities in
the literal context. In the passage, the woman is said to be ‘full of rain and overflowing gutters’
when the seasons changed. This implies that the girl who was ‘bright’ is prone to sadness welling
up like ‘overflowing gutters’ and tears which come down like rain

The poisonous shrub in the garden from symbolizes the corrupting force of nature on human
being

The Cultural Code

Here, the reader focuses on the physical, physiological, medical, psychological, literary and
historical properties of characters of the story to identify a common knowledge.
1. The black women in South have to work as a domestic servant for the whites. Thereby, their
appearance in the street with an apron indicates their job as a servant.

2. loose, pajamalike trousers worn by both men and women in India and southeast Asia.
3. There is a reference of “mehndi party” (ibid, p.164). It is an amazing and a sensible ritual of
Indian and Pakistani marriage ceremony in which bride’s hands and feet are adorned with
mehndi (henna)