The Piece of String and a Problem Analysis

MacKenzie Bernard

Mrs. Cartier

5th Hour Honors English 2

January 26, 2012

“The Piece of String” and “A Problem” Analysis

“The Piece of String” by Guy de Maupassant and “A Problem” by Anton Chekhov both have several differences even though they have similar stories. In both stories, the main character is accused of a crime and their fate is put in other people’s hands. However, each character’s crime and how they deal with their accusation is very different.

In “The Piece of String”, the main character, Maître Hauchecorne, is accused of stealing a wallet when he is seen picking up a piece of string by his enemy, Maître Malandain. In “A Problem”, the main character, Sasha is found guilty of writing a bad check. Although both characters are accused of a crime, only one of the characters committed their crime. “Honest, I don’t know nothing about it.” (de Maupassant 800).Maître Hauchecorne honestly has no idea how he is thought to be the person who stole the wallet. In “A Problem”, however, Sasha has a different story. He is fully aware that he is guilty. “He had discounted a forged note. But all the young men he knew did the same.” (Chekhov 818). Both stories deal with crime, but both stories do not deal with either truly or falsely accused crime. Another plot difference between the two stories is the way each character deals with their accusation. In “The Piece of String”,Maître Hauchecorne really cares that he is being accused. It drives him insane because he can’t stand being thought of as guilty for a crime he didn’t commit. “But it’s God’s truth, honest it is! Not a word of it’s a lie, so help me God!” (de Maupassant800)Maître Hauchecorne deals with a huge amount of concern over his accusation. He is desperate for people to know the truth. However, Sasha does not deal with his accusation like Maître Hauchecorne at all. Sasha is very neutral about his accusation.

Sasha Uskov sat at the door and listened. He felt neither terror, shame, nor depression, but only weariness and inward emptiness. It seemed to him that it made absolutely no difference to him whether they forgave him or not; he had come here to hear his sentence and to explain himself simply because kind-hearted Ivan Markovitch had begged him to do so. He was not afraid of the future. It made no difference to him where he was: here in the hall, in prison, or in Siberia. (Chekhov 817).

Sasha’s judgment and fate is not a big deal to him. He is content with freedom, imprisonment, or anything else he is handed. Maître Hauchecorne and Sasha most definitely have extremely different ways of handling their similar problems.

“The Piece of String” and “A Problem” both have situational irony. However, the irony in each story is not similar. In “The Piece of String”, it is very ironic that MaîtreHauchecorne’sextremely simple act of picking up a piece of string ruined his entire life.“He died early in January, and in the delirium of his death agony he kept on protesting his innocence, repeating over and over again: “A Bit of string…a little bit of string…look, Mayor, here it is….” (de Maupassant 801).As soon as Maîtrepicked up the piece of string is life was ruined right up until he died an early death. He was literally driven insane all because of a tiny piece of string. The irony in “A Problem” is very different. In “A Problem”, Sasha turns on the person who tried to help him the most, his uncle; Ivan Markovitch. “Wont you?” he kept asking, seeing that his uncle was still amazed and did not understand. “Listen. If you don’t, I’ll give myself up tomorrow! I won’t let you pay the IOU! I’ll present another false note tomorrow!” (Chekhov 820). Even after Markovitch goes out of his way to help Sasha who is very undeserving anyway, Sasha threatens to ruin everything his uncle has worked for just because he wants to go waste some money.Although both stories contain irony, the irony is expressed very differently.

Both “The Piece of String” and “A Problem” rely heavily on cause and effect. In “The Piece of String”, all the horrible things that happen to MaîtreHauchecorne are effects of his simple, innocent action of picking up a measly piece of string.

Maître Hauchecorne, a thrifty man like all true Normans, reflected that anything which might come in useful was worth picking up, so he bent down – though with some difficulty, for he suffered from rheumatism. He picked up the piece of thin cord and was about to roll it up carefully when he noticed Maître Malandain, the saddler, standing at his door watching him (de Maupassant 798).

Because of Maître Hauchecorne’s simple act of picking up a piece of string, his entire life was ruined. In “A Problem”, Sasha’s family meets to decide whether or not they should bail him out because he wrote a bad check. “Sasha Uskov had cashed at one of the banks a false promissory note, and it had become due for payment three days before, and now his two paternal uncles and Ivan Markovich, the brother of his dead mother, were deciding the question whether they should pay the money and save the family honor, or wash their hands of it and leave the case to go for trial (Chekhov 816)”.Unlike Maître Hauchecorne, Sasha deserved any consequence he received. However, Maître Hauchecorne was treated unjustly and suffered for things he did not do. Sasha on the other hand only had to endure his family deciding his fate. His family chose to cast him from his transgressions. Sasha got to go mercifully free while Maître Hauchecorne suffered unfairly.

While “The Piece of String” and “A Problem” have similar concepts, the way they are played out are very different. The two characters of Maître Hauchecorne and Sasha are very different people who see their troubles in very opposite ways. The irony and cause and effect elements of each story are also very contrasting. While it could easily be said the two stories have similar backgrounds, they truly share many differences.