This part was the Exposition because this is the whole reason the old peasant was accused of stealing the pocketbook. Him taking the thin cord from the ground as thought by his enemy that, that was the pocketbook.
Inciting Incident- Ma�tre Hauchecome of Breaute had just arrived at Goderville, and he was directing his steps toward the public square when he perceived upon the ground a little piece of string. Ma�tre Hauchecome, economical like a true Norman, thought that everything useful ought to be picked up, and he bent painfully, for he suffered from rheumatism. He took the bit of thin cord from the ground and began to roll it carefully...
This part is the Inciting Incident because the action of Ma�tre Hauchecome picking up the piece of string was the whole reason the conflict took place.
Rising Action- And the meal concluded. They were finishing their coffee when a chief of the gendarmes appeared upon the threshold.
He inquired:
"Is Ma�tre Hauchecome of Breaute here?"
Ma�tre Hauchecome, seated at the other end of the table, replied:
"Here I am."
And the officer resumed:
"Ma�tre Hauchecome, will you have the goodness to accompany me to the mayor's office? The mayor would like to talk to you."
This is the Rising Action because it is the part right before the conflict takes place. This part gives a feeling to the reader that something wrong is going to take place.
Climax- "Ma�tre Hauchecome," said he, "you were seen this morning to pick up, on the road to Benzeville, the pocketbook lost by Ma�tre Houlbreque of Manneville."
The countryman, astounded, looked at the mayor, already terrified by this suspicion resting on him without his knowing why.
"Me? Me? Me pick up the pocketbook?"
"Yes, you yourself."
"Word of honor, I never heard of it."
"But you were seen."
This is the climax because this is the part Ma�tre Hauchecome is called to the mayor. He is then accused of stealing the pocketbook which is the conflict of the story.
Falling Action- He went along, stopping his friends, beginning endlessly his statement and his protestations, showing his pockets turned inside out to prove that he had nothing.
They said:
"Old rascal, get out!"
And he grew angry, becoming exasperated, hot and distressed at not
being believed, not knowing what to do and always repeating himself.
Night came. He must depart. He started on his way with three neighbors to whom he pointed out the place where he had picked up the bit of string, and all along the road he spoke of his adventure.
In the evening he took a turn in the village of Breaute in order to tell it to everybody. He only met with incredulity.
This part is the Falling Action because it is the part after the climax. It shows how the protagonist, Ma�tre Hauchecome, deals with the conflict. He goes around the town telling his side of the story. He urges that he was innocent, but no one believed him.
Resolution-This man claimed to have found the object in the road, but not knowing how to read, he had carried it to the house and given it to his employer.
The news spread through the neighborhood. Ma�tre Hauchecome was informed of it. He immediately went the circuit and began to recount his story completed by the happy
climax. He was in triumph.
"What grieved me so much was not the thing itself as the lying. There is nothing so shameful as to be placed under a cloud on account of a lie."
He talked of his adventure all day long; he told it on the highway to people who were passing by, in the wineshop to people who were drinking there and to persons coming out of church the following Sunday. He stopped strangers to tell them about it. He was calm now, and yet something disturbed him without his knowing exactly what it was. People had the air of joking while they listened. They did not seem convinced. He seemed to feel that remarks were being made behind his back.
This part is the resolution because this is the part is where the man who claimed to find the pocketbook turned it in. Ma�tre Hauchecome was proved innocent and was free again. Even though he had been proven innocent, people still thought he was �A big rascal.� It just shows how a man�s reputation can be ruined by accusation with no proof.
