Question

Which statement is an example of situational irony in "The Piece of String"?

(A)
Master Malandain, who is a kind man, unintentionally causes another character great
harm.

(B)
Master Malandain and Master Hauchecorne never reconcile their differences about a
halter.

(C)
Master Hauchecorne is accused of stealing a wallet when he picked up string from the
ground.

(D)
The mayor is a foolish person who accidentally makes an extremely wise decision.

Thank you in advance!

Answer 1

The statements, "Master Malandain, who is a kind man, unintentionally causes another character great  harm" and "The mayor is a foolish person who accidentally makes an extremely wise decision" are examples of situational irony.

Option - A and D

Explanation:

The irony is a literary device employed by many a author to create pathos or humor, to surprise his readers and to make his literary piece appealing.

Situational irony refers to a situation in the story when there is existence of contradiction to what the reader expects as per the details given in the novel.

For example , in a famous poem by an Indian author Vikram Seth ‘The Tale of the Melon City’ the king is the one who is looking for a culprit to be hanged for the insult that he has borne but in the process of looking for the real culprit, he is  one who is hanged that too as a consequence of his decision to satisfy the spectators. This is an example of situational irony.

In the chosen options, contradiction persists.

Master Malandain is a benevolent one who has no intention of harming anyone but the events in the story proceed in a way to create a situation in which a character suffers great harm because of him.

The second chosen option i.e. D, again portrays a contradictory situation where a moron King accidentally takes a wise decision shocking the readers.

Answer 2

Answer:

(C)  Master Hauchecorne is accused of stealing a wallet when he picked up string from the  ground.

Explanation:

Situational irony is when the characters of the story seems to have no idea about what is happening in the story or the scene but the readers or the audience know about it. This type of irony plays a huge part in the development of the story, for while the readers may have full knowledge of the scene, the characters involved have no idea about it.

Guy de Maupassant's short story "The Piece of String" is a story of a man named Maitre Hauchecorne who was falsely accused of stealing a wallet. the readers know that he was just picking up a string from the ground but what the characters in the story saw was that he was picking up the wallet from the ground. based on this assumption, he was falsely charged of thievery and was accused of being the primary suspect in the missing wallet case.