Analyzing Guy De Maupassant’s The Piece of String through the Lens of Roland Barthes’ Five Codes

Abstract

The present study aims at to apply Roland Barthes structural theory of five codes on the short story The piece of sting. The present study provides qualitative analysis of the selected short story in the light of five codes. This study includes critical analysis of The Piece of String by Guy De Maupassant then apply five codes in such a beautiful way, as propounded by Barthes on the structure of the story. The present short story is rummaged by all the five codes i.e., the hermeneutic, proairetic, semantic, symbolic, and cultural codes, when it goes on textual analysis. The theoretical framework of the short story is a process of deconstruction. The start of the story is attractive and full of suspense where several elements emerge with connotative meaning. It is pregnant with connotative meanings and symbolic code related to binary opposition. The cultural code plays a central role in the structure of the story.