In “The Daughters of the Late Colonel” the theme is captivity and is explored by the author through the relationship between the two captive sisters.
Explanation:
In Katherine Mansfield's short story “The Daughters of the Late Colonel”, the theme is the exploration of captivity and how it affects the primary characters of the story.
Josephine and Constantia have been imprisoned in a world where they have essentially two goals in their lives one is to avoid displeasing their cranky old father and the other is to keep away from him as far as necessary to.
This is the part where the relationship between the two sisters is explored in their silent and morbid captivity within the household.
In Guy Maupassant's "A Piece of String" the suspicion is handled by the rivalry between Maitre Hauchecorne and Maitre Malandain. Malandain accused Hauchecorne of being a thief, when the major asks Hauchecorne about a black leather pocketbook that failed to return he was nervous and didn't know what to do. Ultimately, the accusations drive Hauchecorne to his deadly destiny.
