Arellano University

Elective 3 – GCAS 14 (TTH PM 4:00-5:30) World Literature

Short Story Analysis

Luzan, Danielle Faye A.

2nd Year – AB Political Science

Title: A Piece of String (1884)

Author: Guy de Maupassant
He is a prolific French author who is known for his many short stories and has published
his first novel “Boule de Suif” (1880) at the age of thirty. He is a realist author with stories
that tell the tales of common people permanently altered by larger forces at work in the
world. His short story “A Piece of String” was published within Maupassant’s larger
collection, “Miss Harriet”. This part of the collection follows the experience of Maitre
Hauchecorne, who is a peasant and a farmer that is accused of theft.
Summary:
Maitre Hauchecorne is a peasant and a farmer who is suffering from rheumatism, was
wandering around the marketplace on Beuzeville road, at the time when he noticed a
piece of string on the ground. He picks it up with an economical mindset but was seen by
Maitre Malandain, a harness maker who has a grudge against him, and he, in turn.
Hauchorne hid the string in his pockets and pretended to look for something on the ground
and then left. The scene was then changed to an inn called Jourdain’s, where the place
was filled with customers. A drum was then heard followed by a public crier that caught
the attention of the villagers, the customers of Jourdain’s included. He announced that a
black leather pocketbook that contains five hundred francs and business papers has been
lost between nine and ten o’clock on the Beuzeville road. The people are then requested
to return the item to the mayor’s office or to Maitre Fortune Houlbreque, of Manneville as
there will be twenty francs as reward to the person who finds it. It wasn’t long after the
man went away that Maitre Hauchecorne is then called to the mayor’s office and was
accused of taking the pocketbook with regards to Maitre Malandain’s testimony of
witnessing Maitre Hauchecorne at the scene and picking something up from the ground.
He tries to defend himself and explains that he was picking a piece of string at the time
and even showed the item but none believed him even as they searched him and let him
go. The news spread as Maitre Hauchecorne explains to every person he met about his
side of the story but no one believed such claims. The next day, about one in the
afternoon, Marius Paumelle, a farm hand of Maitre Breton, the market gardener at
Ymauville, returned the pocketbook and its contents to Maitre Holbreque, of Manneville.
He had picked it up from the scene and handed it to his master as he did not know how
to read. Again, the news spread like wildfire and Maitre Hauchecorne felt triumphant
enough and fanned them with his side of the story. What worried him after days of sharing
his story, was that the people were acting jokingly as he tells them his story and later on,
he realized that none of them do not believe his “piece of string” story. They accused him
of having had the pocketbook brought back by an accomplice, by a confederate. He spent
his days struck to the heart by the injustice of suspicion. Even then, he started telling his
story differently, longer, adding new proofs, energetic declarations, and more sacred
oaths. But the more he denied it, the more artful his arguments became, the less he was
believed by the people. Others asked him to tell his story as a form of amusement and
not one to be taken seriously. His then strong mindset grew weak and at the end of
December, he was bedridden. His passing is in early January and at his dying breath, he
kept protesting his innocence, repeating the words; "A little bit of string—a little bit of
string. See, here it is, M'sieu le Maire.”
Plot:
The writer gave out the information of the setting, the people and what era the story was
at with details on their physical appearance in the first few sentences. The story describes
the physical appearance of the people, the animals, the objects, and the environment,
which is Goderville, along with the sounds they make to have the whole setting of the
story engrave into the readers’ minds. The writer then points out the ill-fated relationship
between two of the characters with their first encounter written in the story, the Man vs.
Man conflict. Several lines later, a rich man lost his pocketbook with money and business
papers at the place where the main character was passing through. The most exciting
part of the story was when the relationship between the two characters showed its worse
as the main character, Maitre Hauchecorne, was accused of theft according to the
witness, Maitre Malandain. Him claiming his innocence only added to the suspense and
brought questions into the readers’ minds. The next thing we know, the problem was
resolved without any connections to Maitre Hauchecorne but the story wasn’t over. The
law may have relieved him of the accusations but not from the minds of the townspeople,
this is the Man vs. Society conflict. Nobody cared for the truth and pushed the main
character to his bed and died trying to prove his innocence to no avail.
Characters:
Maitre Hauchecorne – a farmer. The protagonist of the story, one who is falsely accused.
A simple and innocent man that was ruined by injustice.
Maitre Malandain – a harness maker. He is what we call as the antagonist of the story
who made false accusations on the basis that he and the accused do not have a good
relationship. He was the reason for the ruined life of Maitre Hauchorne.
Minor characters were also seen in the story; the mayor, Maitre Authirne, innkeeper,
horsedealer, Maitre Fortune – owner of the “stolen” item, and Marius Paumelle – the
person who found the “stolen” item.
Impact to the society:
The story of “A Piece of String” may have come from an age completely different from the
society that we have today, one may think that it is merely a work of fiction, brewed from
the potions that came from the author’s imagination. But this story is much closer to reality
than we think it to be. The false accusations, the baseless suspicions, the struggles that
the main character had gone through to prove his innocence is rarely noticed in the early
times until today and it just goes to show how unstable the society is. And why does this
happen? It’s because of the people. No matter the time, the age, the era, the world will
not change when its inhabitants stay the same, if not, get even worse. “A piece of string”
is proof of that. Its impact to society? I do believe that a lot of people have read through
this written piece. This story opened up the unseen reality that does indeed happen in
every society, it just wasn’t given enough spotlight for it to be prevented.
Moral implication:
“You shall not go about spreading slander among your people; nor shall you stand by idly
when your neighbor's life is at stake. I am the LORD.” – Leviticus 19:16
Society can, and will, be cruel. In fact, it already is to most people. And that cruelty stems
from the people itself, that is swayed by the majority of the populace. The law has already
created a safety net for those that are falsely accused that comes with a phrase, “Innocent
until proven guilty”, which means that any defendant in a criminal trial is assumed to be
innocent until they have been proven guilty. It’s not perfect but it is a start. And it will only
be more influential if the problem that starts from the people has a solution that starts
from the people in turn. The Bible verse before this paragraph wants the whole world to
realize that change comes from the people and that’s where we move past the starting
line.