A Piece of String: The auther Guy De Maupassant. We solved these notes for the BA English Students of BBMKU and VBU university. First-semester students must read this. It is fresh content for the examination. We provide the helpul content for the fianl term exam. If you have any suggestions and questions then help us to improve the quality of our content, please write in the comment box.
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The story “A piece of string” is written by Guy De Maupassant. This story is set in a little Norman village. This story is about an old peasant, Maitre Hauchecome. There are mainly five characters there in this story.
There was a Goderville market, there were many people there, Maitre Hauchecome was also there, and he was about to enter the Square suddenly he saw a piece of string. He picks it up; while picking up the piece of string, he is seen by his enemy, Maitre Malandain. Then he hid the string in his clothes and acted like he was looking for some expensive thing. Afterward, he went to the Jourdain’s tavern to have his noon meal.
In the Jourdain’s tavern, there was a great hustle and bustle. There was a delicious smell of food there. Maitre Hauchecome went there, and he was having his meals suddenly some drum beater came and announced “a black leather pocketbook, containing 500 francs and some business papers of Maitre Fortune Houlbreque of Manneville had been lost between 9 and 10 a.m” if someone finds the pocketbook they either give it to Maitre Fortune Houlbreque or M Sieu. After sometime later, some men of M Sieu, the mayor, came to the tavern and blamed Maitre Hauchecome that he picked up the pocketbook of Maitre Fortune Houlbreque, and they dragged them to the M Sieu, the mayor.
M Sieu was set on the armchair, Maitre Hauchecome was told that he was seen picking up the pocketbook of Maitre Fortune Houlbreque, but Maitre Hauchecome refused. He did not pic the pocketbook; he just picked up the piece of string. But M Sieu did not believe him, so as per his request, the pocketbook was searched in his clothes, but they found nothing then Maitre Hauchecome was left with a warning. While returning home, every people along the way made fun of him. They called him a thief.
The following morning, the pocketbook was found by Marius Paumelle, and he returned the pocketbook to
Its owner. After coming to know this news, Maitre Hauchecome was very happy. He thought that now no one would make fun of him, but it happened just opposite. After knowing that the pocketbook was found, they were told that first of all, Maitra Hauchecome picked up the pocketbook, and when everyone came to know about that, they started to make fun of him, then he decided to return it. People abused Maitre Hauchecome and made so much fun of him. Though he was innocent, he just picked up the piece of string, not the pocketbook, but people were not believing him, even when the pocketbook was found, but still, they did not believe him. After this incident, people bothered him a lot. People harass him a lot, due to which he falls ill in November and dies by December, A piece of string, a piece.
A Piece of String critical appreciaton
The short french story “A piece of string” was written by Guy De Maupassant in the 19th century. This story is set in a Norman village of France. Here is the critical appreciation of the story.
Guy De Maupassant was a realistic writer. He portrays the world as he sees it realistically. He used simple diction in the story to read and understand it easily. The main character of this story is Monsieur Hauchecorne. He was convicted of stealing a pocketbook of Monsieur Fortune Houlbreque, but he was an innocent man. He did not steal any pocketbook, but people did not believe him. Even when it proved that he did not steal any pocketbook, still no one believed him. Here Maupassant showed the human tendency that if a man is misunderstood as a thief, then even after his innocence is proved, he is still considered a thief, as in the case of Monsieur Hauchecorne.
Monsieur Hauchecorne was a good gentleman; he just picked up the piece of string, not the pocketbook and that thing his enemy also knew, but just because his enemy, Maitre Malandon, had a personal issue, so he told a lie that he picked up the pocket. Moreover, GD Maupassant has given a beautiful scene of the Goderville Market and the Tavern. He beautifully described the Market and as well as the Jourdain’s tavern. Apart from this, the way it has told Hauchecorne’s death is also very commendable. One can imagine it in his mind by reading it the way he wrote, just a piece of string, Just a piece of string, look M’ Sieu, it’s just a piece of string.
Character sketch of Monsieur Hauchcorne
Monsieur Houchecorne was a poor Norman peasant. He was the main character of the short french story “A piece of string” by GD Maupassant. In the story, he was an innocent character but was misunderstood as a thief because of Maitre Malandain.
Maitre Malandain and Monsieur Hauchcorne had a business together, after which the two had a rift, and they separated from each other, and they became the good enemy. Maitre Malandain blamed monsieur Hauchcorne in front of everyone without fault. Maitre Malandain blamed him for picking up the pocketbook, but it was not the reality. Monsieur Hauchcorne had just picked up a piece of string, nothing else. But no one believed him and called him a thief.
Monsieur Hauchcorne tried to make everyone understand that he was innocent, but no one believed him; even after the pocketbook was found and returned to its owner, he was still considered a thief. In the end, getting upset and trusted by people’s words, he fell ill in November and died the following month, speaking “a piece of string, a piece of string, look M’ Sieu the mayor just a piece of string.”
Character sketch of Maitre Malandain
Maitre Malandain was a harness maker and had a business with Monsieur Hauchcorne. Still, there was an issue between them, so they separated and became good enemies. Maitre Malandain was the story’s antagonist, ” A piece of string.”
Once he saw his enemy picking up something from the dirt, he thought it must be the pocketbook. Though he was not certain it was the pocketbook, he still trapped his enemy and said in front of the mayor that it was a pocketbook; he was a thief. Perhaps he wanted to take revenge on his enemy, Monsieur Hauchcorne, so he trapped him, but he did not know that his false blame could kill him. In December, his enemy died. Maybe it happened just because of his bad deed of trapping innocent people.