The Locket By Kate Chopin Analysis

In the story The Locket by Kate Chopin, the main character Octavie is devastated when her lover Edmond has to go to war. Before he leaves, Octavie puts her most prized earthy possession around his neck; her locket. She later gets the locket back when a priest finds it on a man’s body at the battle site. She is horrified to know that Edmond has died in battle. In her grief, she plans to live her life as plainly as possible and to never love again. However by the end of the story, Octavie finds that Edmond is alive and well and that the locket was stolen from him. Chopin managed to keep the story surprising and somewhat suspenseful throughout.

There were many twists and turns in the story that the reader may not having anticipated.
He also says that ‘today would be a great day for a miracle’. Although he seems to have foreshadowed the event, Judge Pillier’s actions helped contribute to the surprise ending because Chopin does not make it entirely clear what he is hinting at. It’s expected that Judge Pillier would be all out of hope after the death of his son. With Edmond’s reappearance out of the question because of his apparent death, the reader might wonder what that miracle Judge Pillier is suggesting could be. Then the story takes a huge twist and surprises us again with Edmond’s return. This keeps the audience on the edge of their seats because they might have wanted to understand how Edmond could come back to Octavie when he was pronounced dead.

With the surprises and turns, the foreshadowing, the sadness, and the suspense in this story, the Locket by Kate Chopin keeps us on edge through out the whole story. Lead from the happiness of the young couple, to grief over Edmund’s death and Octavie’s heartbreak and then back again to joyfulness, The Locket is like an emotional roller coaster. In conclusion, the story holds the reader’s focus and curiosity through its entirety and Chopin keeps us guessing until the