Similarities Between The Storm And The Story Of An Hour

Stories tend to sometimes have a large amount of similarities between them. Whether it may be between characters, settings or even just their central ideas. We sometimes don’t even notice them until we read between the lines. “Hills Like White Elephants” by Ernest Hemingway “The Storm” by Kate Chopin and “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin are three different stores all having distinctive themes, but seem to share one common desire between them and that is freedom. Freedom plays an overcoming persuader to the all of the characters. Each story describes what freedom means to distinctive people. “Hills Like White Elephants” tells a story of a young couple facing a huge decision having to be made. This surgery that the American man wants Jig to get done seems to be an abortion.
They argue back and forth about having this surgery done and whether or not it is the right thing to do.
Jig seems to use the unborn child as her freedom and the American is very upright with the fact that he does not want to have it. He enjoys his worry free lifestyle that he has going for him. He is very manipulative with how he attempts to push her into having the surgery telling her that nothing will change afterwards “We’ll be fine afterward. Just like we were before” (401). The American wants to remain in control, he does not want to have to answer to someone let alone have a child hold him back from living his worry free lifestyle. Jig wants things done differently. She sees the child to be a sense of triumph on her end. To Jig, her freedom is in that child because with that child, she seems to win. Her freedom outdoes his because in having the child, she would be in control. The freedom that each of them want are
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in resistance to each other. Whatever decision that will ultimately be made, will tell the fate on each one’s freedom.
“Story of an Hour” describes freedom being brought to the character in a strange manner. Through the death of her husband she finds freedom that brings her an enormous amount of joy “She said it over and over under her breath: “Free, free, free!” (39). The freedom that is brought upon her is shattered all to soon, when her husband who was thought to be dead, comes knocking on the door. When she realizes that he is indeed still alive, her so long sought out for happiness and freedom, kills her. She thought for a moment that she finally had what so many had longed for. She was finally free from the control of the male dominance in her life. His death freed her and she felt she could finally live for herself once again. “The Storm” tells a story of a women that finds the gratification that she needs in life by an affair with an old friend of hers. The story tells how Calixta finds her satisfaction in committing the affair and afterwards seems happier than she ever was before. She appeared to love her husband, but she had a desire to satisfy her sexual needs that have not been met by her husband. She gained a great quantity of happiness from doing what she knew was wrong and what would be quite disreputable in her society. Calixta demonstrated that freedom and happiness can be discovered from outside of the norms. The excitement from freeing herself from the everyday norm, and doing what was entirely wrong and frowned upon was so irresistible to her, that it motivated her to do what satisfied her and her needs. This theme is seen within all three stories in different ways. Each person sought out for the freedom that they longed for. Some succeeded with maintaining their freedom and happiness, while others were broken down. The yearn for freedom became overpowering to the characters.