This paper discusses narrative as a culturally significant speech genre which can be analyzed to reveal important aspects of a culture's code, particularly its expectations for conduct. The paper argues that through an analysis of narratives an understanding of one important aspect of a culture's code, specifically, that aspect which deals with a community's expectations for conduct (its social/cultural norms) can be developed. The paper begins by discussing cultural norms, and the form and significant cultural content of narratives. It then presents an analytical framework which has been developed to infer cultural norms through the interpretation of mythic narratives (which are shown to be culturally powerful stories). Finally, the paper applies this framework to the interpretation of a cultural text to illustrate the utility of this method. (Forty-two references are attached.) (RAE)