O συγγραφέας περιγράφει την αστική και αγροτική κοινωνία της εποχής του, φωτίζοντας πτυχές του ανθρώπινου χαρακτήρα που δεν έπαψαν να παραμένουν ίδιες ακόμα και στις μέρες μας.
Henri René Albert Guy de Maupassant was a popular 19th-century French writer. He is one of the fathers of the modern short story. A protege of Flaubert, Maupassant's short stories are characterized by their economy of style and their efficient effortless dénouement. He also wrote six short novels. A number of his stories often denote the futility of war and the innocent civilians who get crushed in it - many are set during the Franco-Prussian War of the 1870s.