Examining the influence of Guy de Maupassant's “Necklace” and “Piece of String”, a similar form of figurative language is found. The irony of the situation, where an outcome is different than expected, is found in the surprising and cruel endings of Maupassant's stories. In “The Necklace” the protagonist loses a diamond necklace and, ten years after struggling to pay off the replacement, discovers that the original was a fake. In Maupassant's “Piece of String” the main character picked up a piece of string from the street and as a result was accused of theft and spent the rest of his life trying to prove his innocence. Guy de Maupassant's short stories, "The Necklace" and "The Piece of Thread", were heavily influenced by his depressing life and Gustave Flaubert, his mentor, which led to the development of main characters who faced unnecessary burdens . Guy de Maupassant was born on August 6, 1850 on the French coast of Normandy. During Maupassant's childhood, his mother, Laure Le Poittevin, wanted to pass on her late brother's love of literature to her first son, Guy de Maupassant. As Maupassant grew up, he lived in different places in Normandy until his family settled in the castle of Grainville-Ymauville. In 1860 Maupassant's parents separated. His father moves to Paris while Maupassant, his mother and his brother move to Etreat. Maupassant remained at Etreat until 1863 where he became a boarder at the Institution Ecclesiastique of Yvetot until his expulsion. He subsequently enrolled at the Lycée Corneille in Rouen where his tutor was Louis Bouilhet. After Maupassant received his baccalaureate degree in 1869, he enrolled in a law school in Paris (Bloom 15). He was later called to serve when France declared war on Germany during the Franco-Plum War...... half of the paper......Salem Press, 2004. 1-3. Literary reference center. Salam Press. Network. 6 April 2012."(henri) (rene Albert) Guy De Maupassant." Gale online encyclopedia. Detroit: Gale, 2012. Literature Resource Center. Network. March 30, 2012.Leacock, Stephen. "The Influence of Maupassant's Realism." Guy De Maupassant. Editor Harold Bloom. Philadelphia: Chelsea House, 2004. 64-65. Print.Maupassant, Guy De. "The necklace." Prentice Hall Literature. By Kate Kinsella, Kevin Feldman and Sharon Vaughan. Penguin ed. Boston, Massachusetts: Pearson PrenticeHall, 2007. 294-301. Print.Maupassant, Guy De. "The piece of string." Ebscohost Literary Reference Center. Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation., March 1, 2006. Web. April 6, 2012. Powys, John C. “Noise and Predatory Humor.” Guy De Maupassant. Editor Harold Bloom. Philadelphia: Chelsea House, 2004. 66-68. Press.