Literary Devices In The Story Of An Hour

After reading the short story called “The story of an hour” by Kate Chopin, I feel the setting in this story is very interesting and designed because there are different objects symbolise to other abstracts which author wants to tell readers. The main character, Mrs. Mallard, who experiences an hour that she learns her husband died from a railroad accident, deserves to freedom in this society. During this hour, her emotions alerts from grief to delighted, from nervous to comfortable, and from untrammeled to hopeless. At the beginning of learning her husband died, Mrs. Mallard starts to go through her last of life without husband. Later, she knows she can enjoy freedom with her rest of life by herself, which makes her relaxed. However, in the
Chopin’s first sentence of this story is “knowing that Mrs.Mallard [is] afflicted with a heart trouble” (25), it hooks readers attention why author mentions first. It is actually a foreshadowing for the next plot that her sister says the bad news in broken sentence and the died reason in the ending. Another foreshadowing example is “the storm of grief”(25). The surface of storm is described for Mrs.Mallard’s crying of heavy and rapid, but under the mask of the storm, it as metaphor to indicate that her grief just like storm changes fast, which foreshadowing next plot that she goes outside of the room and feels hopeful without sad. This technique helps readers to understand what happen in the next and makes novel
For example, the “door” divides the room Mrs.Mallard stays and the outside of room. It stands for the road connected two worlds: one is the fetter of marriage that Mrs.Mallard experiences and the situation under androcentric society, the other is her freedom world. Mrs.Mallard stays lonely in the room, which reflects she can only keep few time in her dream. There is also obviously symbol that “window” in the story. The inner of Mrs.Mallard’s emotions through this “window” tells readers that she deserves freedom and great life. Thus, it stands for a bridge that connects her hope and herself. In addition, the space where all characters meet and talk in the beginning and again appear in the ending. It is an attentional design that tells readers Mrs.Mallard learns sad message in that space first and as she comes to the same space she surprises her husband still alives, so the space author wants to reflects the real society. Another significant symbol is Mrs.Mallard “like a goddess of Victory”(27). The “Victory” stands for Mrs.Mallard awake from her spiritual level. On the ethical side, she thinks she should feel grief for her husband’s died; on the deserve side, she first feels the joy from freedom. Because of this, she stands up in this environment and wins on the spiritual level. Nonetheless, Mrs.Mallard is so weak due to her conscious and body. She feels grief when learns her husband died, it hurts her superego;