The Thief

Title of the short story : The Thief
Author : Guy de Maupassant
Number of pages : 5

The Fact

It was quite a sad story about a man who was blamed and jailed for something that he never did. It began by the appearance of Dr. Sorbier who told about the story of a man. This man in the story was in love with a beautiful girl from upper-class standing. The girl knew that her parents would never approve of their relationship, so she told the man to keep it secret. Everyday, this couple would meet in the girl house, in secret of course. The man would climb the garden fence, and enter from the servant door then went upstairs to the girl’s room.

One day, the man accidentally broke a vase on the way to the girl’s room. Unfortunately, it was near her parents’ room, and the sound of the broken vase woke the mother. The mother came outside her room and saw the man silhouette. Thinking that it was a bulglar, she screamed. Her scream woke the entire people in the house. The man realized that he could never escape undetected – and he also didn’t want to make the girl be blamed – thinking to sacrifice himself in order to help the girl. He took the nearest object, put in his clothes, and acted like the real thief. He was caught and then jailed until he died. Meanwhile, the girl married and had many children without even once thinking about the man.

Personal Response

Sad story. It tells us never be blinded by love. I think that sacrifices in the name of love is a noble act, but it will not have any meaning if the one we sacrifice for does not care about us.

Questions and Answers

Ratih

• Questions
  
  
  
  1. If you were the man, how was your feeling?
  2. If you can change the story, what will your ending be?


• Answers
  
  
  1. I will feel proud at first because I’m willing to sacrifice myself for her. But, when she never even once come to see me, I will feel so betrayed by her.
  2. I will make the girl tells her parents the truth, eventhough it will be bad for her, and free the man from the prison.

Rahman

• Questions
  
  
  
  1. Was the girl actually loved the man because she didn’t fight for the man?
  2. What is the moral value of the story?


• Answers
  
  
  1. Maybe she didn’t really love him, because if she was, she would speak the truth about the man and prevent him to be jailed.
  2. Don’t be blinded by love. Real love isn’t like fairy tale. It isn’t always end with happy ending.

Yudha

• Questions
  
  
  
  1. If you can change one part of the story, which part will you change?
  2. If you were the girl, what would you do when your lover was jailed?


• Answers
  
  
  1. Actually, if I change one part, this story will not be interesting anymore. But, if I can maybe I’ll change the man’s feeling for the girl, and have him to find another, much better girl.
  2. I’ll do my best to free him, because I know that it wasn’t his fault. He wasn’t a real thief, after all.