What common themes bond together the literary works of the 1800’s? Frederick Douglass and Kate Chopin both realized that people were not being treated fairly and thus it influenced their writing. Through personal experiences and observations Frederick Douglass conveyed how African Americans in My Bondage and My Freedom were treated unfairly. Kate Chopin used the plot to show how women were treated unfairly in “The Story of an Hour”.
In Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour” demonstrates the personal growth of the dynamic protagonist Louise Mallard, after hearing news of her husband’s death. The third-person narrator telling the story uses deep insight into Mrs. Mallard’s thoughts and emotions as she sorts through her feelings after her sister informs her of her husband’s death. During a Character analysis of Louise Mallard, a reader will understand that the delicate Mrs. Mallard transforms her grief into excitement over her newly discovered freedom that leads to her death. As Mrs. Mallard sorts through her grief she realizes the importance of this freedom and the strength that she will be able to do it alone.
“The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin introduces us to Mrs. Mallard as she reacts to the sudden death of her husband. Chopin describes Mrs. Mallard’s emotions as sad, yet happy that her husband has been killed. Kate Chopin’s “ The Story of an Hour” argues that when a person is controlled and made to live under another person their mental state of mind is affected. The story also argues that when that person is freed from the controlling person their true self can finally be achieved. Kate Chopin portrays these themes by the use of character development; plot control, and irony throughout the story.
Mallard’s emotional journey. From her initial reluctance to her ultimate freedom, Mrs. Mallard reflects nature’s everchanging beauty. Chopin conducts a symphony of imagery that pieces together the life and death of Louise Mallard. It is evident that Chopin uses Louise Mallard’s story to convey her perception of women and men’s roles during the late 1800’s by showcasing her acceptance of the freedom that could only be gained by a single woman. The descriptions used in Chopin’s work are a marvelous representation of her character’s struggle with inner conflicts. Louise’s victory in accepting her husband’s death is a feeling that she now cannot live without. The ultimate death of Louise Mallard is one that represents physical and emotional defeat. In this dramatic short story, Chopin uses imagery to sew together a tapestry of emotions all encompassed in an ill-stricken widow.
While Mrs. Mallard is just starting a new life, so to say, for herself, her life she has known comes to an end. She is just able to become “free, free, free!” (57) when she loses her life. Kate Chopin uses contrast with the news Richard’s gave, the way Mrs. Mallard felt in the room and the doctor’s news to show how women perceived marriage in the 19th century in her story The Story of an Hour.
An unloved marriage can be one of the most intricate and dreadful parts of an individual’s identity. It influences many aspects of an individual. freedom, independence, individuality as well as emotional growth and moral orientation. A person’s interaction and connection with a unloved marriage is the foundation of their character, of the kind of people they will grow to be, and the values they will uphold in their daily lives. In the story “The Story of an Hour,” Kate Chopin demonstrates the role of marriage in defining the individual by contrasting and highlighting the value individuals place on the marriage and love that they consider theirs.
Erdrich uses the changing of seasons to emphasize how reality exposes the falsehood of an ideal world. During the carefree summertime, life seems glorious and free. The idealistic summer world gives man the false impression that life will always be that way, enabling him to lose sight of reality. As autumn approaches, however, it shatters that idealistic view of the world. It can never be restored (5 words). Henry’s shipment to war marks the end of his blissfully ignorant life and marks the coming of cold and harsh times. The evil of the world scars Henry, awakening him from his oblivion. Although the arrival of spring holds the promise of renewal, Henry’s encounter with war makes it so that he can no longer see goodness or hope in humanity. As humanity reassures themselves of a “whole life starting” (Erdrich 6) in the spring, Henry becomes increasingly repulsed by the ignorance surrounding him. His awakening to reality is a burden, which explains why humanity chooses to ignore reality instead. Henry’s suicide in the river represents his escape from the world that he has come to detest. The river, symbolizing the corruption of modern life, drowns him to
When Lyman was looking at the picture it dawned on him, unlike the car, Henry cannot be repaired. The dark truth behind the mental image of Henry’s brother shows that his soul did not return back from Vietnam. Lyman’s avoidance of the photograph shows the murkiness behind the photograph. His detail of the photograph creates a mental image of Henry’s suffering and distance from reality he could never overcome. He hides this photograph in his closet because he would never get to understand what his brother went through while being imprisoned. With the imagery shown in “The Red Convertible” it helps visualize that Henry was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder from his war captivity after returning home.
The aspects of “The Story of an Hour,” and “The Interloper,” are very different. These two stories have such different types of irony, that there are almost no similarities whatsoever. However, if you put your mind to it and have a little time, you will however, find the few that there are.
They hobnob. They even purchase an auto together. This red convertible is the most eminent way that Erdrich speaks to the young men's guiltlessness in the story. To get this auto, they use the majority of the cash they have, without actually pondering it. "Before we had thought it over whatsoever, the auto had a place with us and our pockets were void" Soon in the wake of acquiring the red convertible, Henry and Lyman set off driving with no true end. The same at last, and pushes it right over to him. The red auto speaks to a bond between the two siblings, and with Henry gone; Lyman cannot stand to have it around any longer. Shockingly, disposing of the auto does not deal with Lyman's agony. Indeed quite a while after Henry's passing, Lyman still encounters post-traumatic anxiety. Just now he has a catastrophe of his own to persist. Imagery is a quintessential component in all composition, whether it is exposition or a ballad. "The Red Convertible," a short story composed by Louise Erdrich, recounts the story of the dangerous nature of war, by means of the strain created on the families from dishonorable deconditioning. The fundamental characters in the story, Lyman and Henry Lamartine, are siblings that create an apparently conjoined security through an auto; a red convertible. Lyman, the more youthful of the two was dedicated and could simply "profit" He figures out how to rise up the
Every person has the right to be and feel free. They have the right to be independent and live happily. Kate Chopin’s, “The Story of an Hour,” focuses on sixty minutes in the life of a young Mrs. Mallard. Upon learning of her husband’s death, Mrs. Mallard experiences a revelation about her future without a husband. Her life, due to heart problems, suddenly ends after she unexpectedly finds out her husband is actually alive. Mrs. Mallard’s actions cause the readers to contemplate a hidden meaning woven into the story line. Mr. Mallard is assumed to die in a railroad accident, leaving Mrs. Mallard devastated. Instead of feeling sadness or grief, Mrs. Mallard actually feels free. "There would be no one to live for her during those coming years; she would live for herself. There would be no powerful will bending hers in that blind persistence with which men and women believe they have a right to impose a private will upon a fellow-creature" (Page 499). Chopin makes her strong statement in this quote from the story. Mrs. Mallard has no one to answer to but herself, and she feels liberated that her husband can no longer control her. During the late nineteenth century, women quite frequently had to suppress themselves to the will of their husbands, or to some other man who had a significant amount of control over their lives. Chopin successfully uses vivid imagery, point of view, and irony that gives a different view of marriage that is not typical of today.
The Short Story The Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin explores the emotions of Louise Mallard a woman with a heart disease. In the hour that the story is told, it ranges from showing Mrs. Mallard different reactions to learning of her husbands death to him surprisingly showing up alive and eventually her untimely death from a heart disease. Although only a brief period of time is shown, many emotions are revealed through the third person omniscient point of view. This point of view shows more than just the protagonists thoughts and is not limited to one person. It allows the readers to know something about Mrs. Mallard that she does not as the story ends after Mrs. Mallard has already died. The readers can be more sympathetic towards Mrs. Mallard.
Kate Chopin introduces her main character as “Mrs. Mallard” to signify her being married. However, within her marriage, she loses herself. Being married, she took her husband’s last name and became a wife. In a way it changed her personality. She was no longer her own self, she was someone else’s “property”. Her first name is only told after her husband dies. Thus, it symbolizes her being free, “Free! Body and soul free! She kept whispering” (Chopin 203). The reader is told that Mr. Mallard is assumed to die from a railroad accident. The railroad has been used to symbolize a transition, moving on, and change. The death of Mr. Mallard would be a transition from Mrs. Mallard being some man’s wife to becoming her own person.
¨You never know how strong you are until being strong is the only choice you have,¨ according to Sarah Williams. This situation embodies that of Mrs. Mallard. In ¨The Story of An Hour¨ by Kate Chopin an analysis of diction reveals male dominance as a consequence of the patriarchy.
As the story continues, when Josephine whose Mrs. Mallard’s sister told her about the death of Mr. Mallard, instead of reacting in shock as “many women would’ve (Chopin, The Story of an Hour)” done so, Mrs. Mallard “wept at once, with sudden, wild abandonment, in her sister’s arms. (Chopin, the Story of an Hour)” It would be prudent to believe by the way Mrs. Mallard was crying that indeed she was devastated about her husband’s tragic death.