Who Is Louise Mallard A Sympathetic Character
Assignment 1
Interpreting: The Story of an Hour
After reading the Story of an Hour, I concluded that Louise Mallard is a sympathetic character. I am not sure sympathetic is the best word to describe her. Perhaps caring or considerate would be a more exact word. She is also a little self-centered. Her feeling may be unpredictable but they show signs of a caring and compassionate individual. Louise’s happiness does not come from Brently’s dead; her happiness comes from being separated from someone she does not enjoy being around. She did not rejoice in his death, therefore, she is should not be seen as callous or evil. Kate Chopin tells use in paragraph thirteen with the words “kind, tender hands” that he did not physically mistreat
her but did cause her psychological pain. This psychological pain is illuminated in paragraph fourteen with the sentence “There would be no powerful will bending hers in that blind persistence with which men and women believe they have a right to impose a private will upon a fellow-creature.” This means he has tried to force his ideas and personal views upon her. In addition to that the statement,” The dull stare in her eyes” from paragraph nine may also imply shock. Shock is a common response to loss of a partner or loved one. During this time period people married for many reasons that did not involve love. We do not know if she once loved him or it was a marriage that fulfilled a different purpose. We do know she was not in love with him. She may have loved him form time to time, as she said, but she was not in love with him. The reason this is important is it allows her to look beyond the morning phase more quickly to see what changes this will have on her own life. Being afflicted with heart trouble, she probably never imagined she would out live Brently. Having a heart problem would make her focus on her own demise and not that of her husbands. I believe it is human nature to say, how is this change going to affect me? She seems surprised to think about not living for someone else as if it was the first time she ever considering it. In paragraph four we have a strong foreshadowing of her death with the line ”Into this she sank, pressed down by a physical exhaustion that haunted her body and seemed to reach into her soul.” The open window is a metaphor for her new life in view. The “new spring life” and the “delicious breath” imply she has a new found passion for life. The patches of blue sky also represent brighter times ahead instead of the piled up cloud witch signify dreariness of days gone by. Chopin’s points in paragraph fourteen are; first, she no longer has to dedicate her life taking care of her husbands needs. Second, and most importantly, she will not be forced into thinking or acting in a way pursuant to her husband’s wishes or desires. One of the great undertones in this story is that even if it is just for an hour, she gets to see a new life for herself, a life she wants to live and at that point there is no turning back. The joy she experienced in this moment was enough that she could never live with Brently again. I believe she never wished him dead but now that she envisioned it, she could no longer live with him and when he came though the front door her dream and her life came to an end.
Interpreting: The Story of an Hour
After reading the Story of an Hour, I concluded that Louise Mallard is a sympathetic character. I am not sure sympathetic is the best word to describe her. Perhaps caring or considerate would be a more exact word. She is also a little self-centered. Her feeling may be unpredictable but they show signs of a caring and compassionate individual. Louise’s happiness does not come from Brently’s dead; her happiness comes from being separated from someone she does not enjoy being around. She did not rejoice in his death, therefore, she is should not be seen as callous or evil. Kate Chopin tells use in paragraph thirteen with the words “kind, tender hands” that he did not physically mistreat
her but did cause her psychological pain. This psychological pain is illuminated in paragraph fourteen with the sentence “There would be no powerful will bending hers in that blind persistence with which men and women believe they have a right to impose a private will upon a fellow-creature.” This means he has tried to force his ideas and personal views upon her. In addition to that the statement,” The dull stare in her eyes” from paragraph nine may also imply shock. Shock is a common response to loss of a partner or loved one. During this time period people married for many reasons that did not involve love. We do not know if she once loved him or it was a marriage that fulfilled a different purpose. We do know she was not in love with him. She may have loved him form time to time, as she said, but she was not in love with him. The reason this is important is it allows her to look beyond the morning phase more quickly to see what changes this will have on her own life. Being afflicted with heart trouble, she probably never imagined she would out live Brently. Having a heart problem would make her focus on her own demise and not that of her husbands. I believe it is human nature to say, how is this change going to affect me? She seems surprised to think about not living for someone else as if it was the first time she ever considering it. In paragraph four we have a strong foreshadowing of her death with the line ”Into this she sank, pressed down by a physical exhaustion that haunted her body and seemed to reach into her soul.” The open window is a metaphor for her new life in view. The “new spring life” and the “delicious breath” imply she has a new found passion for life. The patches of blue sky also represent brighter times ahead instead of the piled up cloud witch signify dreariness of days gone by. Chopin’s points in paragraph fourteen are; first, she no longer has to dedicate her life taking care of her husbands needs. Second, and most importantly, she will not be forced into thinking or acting in a way pursuant to her husband’s wishes or desires. One of the great undertones in this story is that even if it is just for an hour, she gets to see a new life for herself, a life she wants to live and at that point there is no turning back. The joy she experienced in this moment was enough that she could never live with Brently again. I believe she never wished him dead but now that she envisioned it, she could no longer live with him and when he came though the front door her dream and her life came to an end.