Many are set during the Franco-Prussian War of the s, describing the futility of war and the innocent civilians who, caught up in events beyond their control, are permanently changed by their experiences.
He wrote short stories, six novels, three travel books, and one volume of verse. His first published story, " Boule de Suif " "The Dumpling", , is often considered his most famous work. His mother urged her husband when they married in to obtain the right to use the particule or form "de Maupassant" instead of "Maupassant" as his family name, in order to indicate noble birth.
He then obtained from the Tribunal Civil of Rouen by royal decree dated 9 July the right to style himself "de Maupassant" instead of "Maupassant", being formally assumed as the family name before the birth of his children. After the separation, Laure Le Poittevin kept custody of her two sons.
In the absence of the Maupassant's father, his mother became the most influential figure in the young boy's life. At the Villa des Verguies, between the sea and the luxuriant countryside, he grew very fond of fishing and of outdoor activities.
When Guy reached the age of thirteen, his mother placed her two sons as day boarders in a private school, the Institution Leroy-Petit, in Rouenβthe Institution Robineau of Maupassant's story La Question du Latin βfor classical studies. In , while he was in junior high school , Maupassant met Gustave Flaubert at Croisset on the insistence of his mother.
