The Application of Ronald Barthes’ Five Codes on Zaib-un-Nissa’sThe Bull and the She Devil

Abstract

The paper aims to explore Roland Barthes’s five codes from structural theory on the short story The Bull and the She Devil (1958) written by one of the pioneers of Pakistani fiction writers, ZaibunnisaHamidullah. This research paper analyzes the selected short story qualitatively by applying the five codes. Through textual analysis, the research paper substantiates that the short story has all the five codes, which are the hermeneutic, proairetic, semantic, symbolic and cultural codes. The selected short story is chosen for multiple reasons. This short story is not that lengthy which makes it easier for the readers as it propagates its ideology in precise word limit and it is enigmatic for the readers as it is full of suspense. The short story contains suspense, symbolic and cultural references. Most importantly, The Bull and the She Devil(1958) represents GhulamQadir and Shirin as binary oppositions as they have different personalities and opposite mindset and a balance is created through the contrasting personalities of Shirin and GhulamQadir. Also, the interpretation of the short story by applying Barthes’s codes gives an insight into the theme and structure of the text. The significance of this research is that it will broaden the critical study horizons on Hamidullah’s work.