Cruelty of Society

A Literary Analysis of A Piece of String

A piece of string, a story of a man struggling in his social life. This is a short story written
by one of the greatest artist in his era, Guy de Maupassant. Maupassant is known for his
realistic approach of story telling as it tells some stories based on the real world, on what he
see. This is why the story a piece of string is one of the great stories I read.

The story is all about a man who accused from stealing a pocket book with some money
and he is trying to prove his innocence about this. Clearly, this is the conflict of the story. And
this caught my attention while reading the story. Social life is very sensitive part as a human
being. Healthy interaction to others can result in good things and help boost our confidence
while poor social interaction can result to bad. This a good choice of topic because it can be an
eye opener to the readers especially in the time when Maupassant write this short story. In the
past time social status is a big deal especially in European country. Rich people treat the poor as
the lowest type in the society. This is what happen to the protagonist in the story, Maitre
Hauchecorne. Maitre Hauchecorne is a farmer and belong to the lowest class of society that’s
why it is easy think that he really steal the pocket book as what happen to the story. Everything
he say is a lie to others because that’s what society look to those who belongs to the lower
class. He also have no rights to defend himself because no one believes to him. When you are a
poor people in the past, what others say about you is who you are even if its not true. Until
Maitre Hauchecorne last breathe, he still proving that he did not do what people say to him and
died with no one believe to what’s truly happened.

Guy de Maupassant, in his short story, try to tell how a small things can result into a bigger
problem, how simple dispute can ruin a mans life. What happen to Maitre Hauchecorne in the
story is very sad, die without piece in mind, how cruel society treated him and we agree
that what happens to him is also happening in the real world not only in the past but even in
the present. Still some people are struggle to blend and be accepted by society.