The Piece of String, written by Guy de Maupassant was published in 1883. The book is set in Normandy, France. It is a short story based on social realism. The moral of the story is that you must tell the truth to maintain a reputation of honesty and gain trust from others, because a reputation of deceit and dishonesty will make people believe you are not trustworthy, so even when you're telling the truth, it is hard for others to believe.
The main characters are Maitre Hauchecorne, M. Malandain and The Mayor of Goderville.
Maitre is a peasant, who picks up anything he sees as useful off the ground. The story begins where he is walking through the market and comes across a piece of string. He picks the string up and keeps it for himself. Later, in the Market, one of Maitre Hanchecornes enemies accuses him of stealing someone else's pocketbook. This soon gets around Goderville, and people begin to distrust and dislike Maitre Hauchecorne, despite his claim of innocence.
Maitre Hauchecorne already had a bad reputation with the citizens of Goderville due to his previous lying and over exaggerations and telling unbelievable stories. This is the main reason for the people's reluctance to believe Maitre Hauchecorne, although he is telling the truth.
The story teaches us that 'honestly is the best policy' in life and that lies and deceit will always come back to you negatively. Maire Hauchecorne was still protesting his innocent till the day he died but no one believed him. The story is very ironic as although he told the truth, the lies had made it so it would not be believed. Even when the pocketbook was found, people still treated Maitre Hauchecorne unpleasantly.
- The main characters in The Piece of String
The main characters are Maitre Hauchecorne, M. Malandain and The Mayor of Goderville.
Maitre is a peasant, who picks up anything he sees as useful off the ground. The story begins where he is walking through the market and comes across a piece of string. He picks the string up and keeps it for himself. Later, in the Market, one of Maitre Hanchecornes enemies accuses him of stealing someone else's pocketbook. This soon gets around Goderville, and people begin to distrust and dislike Maitre Hauchecorne, despite his claim of innocence.
Maitre Hauchecorne already had a bad reputation with the citizens of Goderville due to his previous lying and over exaggerations and telling unbelievable stories. This is the main reason for the people's reluctance to believe Maitre Hauchecorne, although he is telling the truth.
- What does the story teach us?
The story teaches us that 'honestly is the best policy' in life and that lies and deceit will always come back to you negatively. Maire Hauchecorne was still protesting his innocent till the day he died but no one believed him. The story is very ironic as although he told the truth, the lies had made it so it would not be believed. Even when the pocketbook was found, people still treated Maitre Hauchecorne unpleasantly.