Importance Of Temptation In Kate Chopin's 'The Storm'

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"When Thunder Rolls"
Temptation is a powerful and unrelenting force that everyone struggles with sooner or later. From being tempted to eat the last slice of pizza to cheating on an exam, temptation appears in various forms and more importantly, when you least expect or want it. In today's society, it is inevitable that one should go a day without being tempted and while some temptations are easily resisted, there are those meant to force someone into battling their darker inner desires. In Kate Chopin's "The Storm," Calixta and Alcée both succumb to their sexual desire for one another that has tempted them for the past years. The characters could not resist this temptation despite seeming to be happily married to their spouses, so when Chopin states "So the storm passed and everyone was happy" at the end of the story, it seems to be saying that the storm itself was a manifestation of this temptation and because it was gone, so was their temptation.
Although this can be considered a stand alone piece of work, I believe that if a reader has not read the story's predecessor, "The 'Cadian Ball," they cannot truly grasp …show more content…

However, it makes you wonder what would have had happened had Bobinôt and Bibi had stayed home? What would have had happened had they made it back before the storm had hit? Was it just coincidence that the storm happened to hit them just as Alcée was near enough to stop by Calixta's home? It is almost as if something was wanting these two be alone together which makes the last line so powerful. It represents how Alcée and Calixta feel about the aftermath of their actions as well as Bobinôt and Clarisse's bliss of their seemingly loving marriages. With the characters going back to their daily lives, just as the last line suggests, they all live happily ever after. That is, until the next storm rolls

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