Essay Paper A Story of an Hour
A Story of an Hour – Essay Assignement
Noah Rieger
As the title puts it, “The Story of an Hour” is a story that happens in one hour. This story mostly revolves around one woman, Louis Mallard, who is used to develop many themes in the story. Some of the themes brought up have a different interpretation from what is normally known in the usual circumstances. The themes of freedom and death have been projected quite in a way that gives a reader another understanding different from what is already known. Other themes that are evidently seen are time, freedom and confinement, marriage and emotional regression. The title of the story also shows how so many things can happen within a single hour. In normal circumstances, death brings sorrow, grief, seclusion, guilt, and regrets, amongst other feelings depending on the course of death. In this story, death brings some of these feelings such as sorrow and grief. I argue however, that in this short story Kate Chopin uses death to demonstrate how death can not only cause pain and sadness but also bring joy, independence and freedom.
The story begins on a very sad note especially in the eyes of a reader. Mrs. Mallard is said to have a “heart trouble” and so Josephine felt that great care had to be taken when delivering the sad news of Bently’s death (Mrs. Mallard’s husband). Upon the delivery of the news, she starts sobbing and grieving then goes to her room to be by herself. This was a time to reflect upon her life. The reality of a life without her husband slowly started setting in. During this time the author helps us to realize that the death of her husband meant that there will be no more women and men oppressing one another. As she is in her room, there is an overwhelming feeling that slowly builds up. Although she tries to conceal it, she can feel it within. It is the feeling of joy and happiness as to the new freedom she has found.
During this time that she is in the room, she gets to think of the days that lay
Noah Rieger
As the title puts it, “The Story of an Hour” is a story that happens in one hour. This story mostly revolves around one woman, Louis Mallard, who is used to develop many themes in the story. Some of the themes brought up have a different interpretation from what is normally known in the usual circumstances. The themes of freedom and death have been projected quite in a way that gives a reader another understanding different from what is already known. Other themes that are evidently seen are time, freedom and confinement, marriage and emotional regression. The title of the story also shows how so many things can happen within a single hour. In normal circumstances, death brings sorrow, grief, seclusion, guilt, and regrets, amongst other feelings depending on the course of death. In this story, death brings some of these feelings such as sorrow and grief. I argue however, that in this short story Kate Chopin uses death to demonstrate how death can not only cause pain and sadness but also bring joy, independence and freedom.
The story begins on a very sad note especially in the eyes of a reader. Mrs. Mallard is said to have a “heart trouble” and so Josephine felt that great care had to be taken when delivering the sad news of Bently’s death (Mrs. Mallard’s husband). Upon the delivery of the news, she starts sobbing and grieving then goes to her room to be by herself. This was a time to reflect upon her life. The reality of a life without her husband slowly started setting in. During this time the author helps us to realize that the death of her husband meant that there will be no more women and men oppressing one another. As she is in her room, there is an overwhelming feeling that slowly builds up. Although she tries to conceal it, she can feel it within. It is the feeling of joy and happiness as to the new freedom she has found.
During this time that she is in the room, she gets to think of the days that lay
Bibliography: Chopin, K. (2006). The Story of an Hour. In R. Bausch, The Norton Anthology of Short Fiction (Vol. Seventh Edition). New York: W. W. Norton & Company.