Louise Mallard In The Story Of An Hour By Kate Chopin

“The Story of An hour,” by Kate Chopin, is a short story about a woman who thinks she loses her husband in a railroad accident, but loses her freedom instead. Louise Mallard suffers from heart troubles, and has to be monitored every day. When her sister Josephine, and a family friend Richards, tell her the news about her husband she has to be careful not startle Louise too much, as it could hurt her heart. Chopin uses setting, point of view, and language devices to enhance the central idea of confinement. The setting is physical, and it takes place in the Mallard’s home. The majority of the story takes place in Louise’s room. When Josephine tells Louise the news about her husband Chopin says, “When the storm of grief had spent itself she went
The story follows Louise’s thoughts and feelings closely, compared to Josephine, Richards and Brently. The third person omniscient point of view allows the reader to establish credibility, and objective tone. Credibility allows the reader to trust everything the narrator is saying. An objective tone gives the readers an unbiased story. At the beginning of the story Chopin says, “Knowing that Mrs. Mallard was afflicted with a heart trouble, great care was taken to break to her as gently as possible the news of her husband’s death” (1). By Chopin saying the phrase “knowing that” it allows the reader to conclude that the narrator is trustworthy, as the phrase refers to the statement being a fact. The point of view impacts the story by allowing the reader to see how Louise truly feels about her life, versus what the other characters see. When Louise begins to think about the life without her husband Chopin says, “There would be no one to live for during those coming years; she would live for herself. There would be no powerful will bending hers…” (2). If the story was told from Josephine’s point of view the reader would not know that Louise would gain freedom from the death of her