Deconstruction, one of the critical trends of postmodernism, was pioneered by Jacques Derrida a French-born Algerian critic. A reading strategy, not a literary method or theory, Deconstruction focuses on the reader rather than the text or the author. In this reading strategy, language is considered deceptive, unstable, ambiguous, and unreliable which is recreated by the reader. The most important terms in this strategy are writing, differance and deferral, proliferation, dispersion, and trace. This study analyzes one of Zakaria Tamer’s short stories entitled “Oh, the Forgotten Cherry” from the Damascus is Burnt collection to identify/address its deconstructive elements. The significance of this study which adopts a descriptive-analytical method lies in opening a new window toward the ubiquity of meaning in a literary text. This study addresses the differance in meaning due to the dispersal of textual elements. The dichotomy between innocence and greed is the most contradictory duality in the short story where the author deconstructs slavery.
