Short Story Of An Hour: A Case Study

The definition of freedom, according to Dictionary.com, is the power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants without hindrance or restraint. In the declaration of independence, American citizens are given freedom of speech, freedom of religion, right to vote, right to a fair trial, and freedom of assembly to name a few. These rights that we have enable us to form communities and have our voices heard regarding issues that negatively impact us as a whole or prevent us from moving towards a brighter and hopeful future because that is what freedom is. It is about hope. It is about being your own person without hesitation, without judgement. “The Story of an Hour” written by Kate Chopin and “A&P” written by John Updike encounter two very

The Story of an Hour," by Kate Chopin is the tragic story of a woman whose newfound position as a widow gives her strength. She develops a sense of freedom as she embraces her husband's death as an opportunity to establish her own identity. The tragedy is when her newfound identity gets stripped away as the appearance of her husband reveals that he is still alive. The disappointment from this tragedy kills her with a heart attack symbolizing the many conflicts that she faced throughout the story. The conflicts the character faces within herself and society show that the social norms for women were suppressing to their strength and individuality as human beings.

In “The Autonomous Female Self and the Death of Louise Mallard in Kate Chopin’s ‘Story of an Hour,’” Mark Cunningham expresses his opinion on how he believes Mrs. Mallard dies in Chopin’s short story. “The Story of an Hour” was written in the late 1890s, during a time when it was controversial for women to be independent. The ending of her story has created somewhat of a dilemma among readers for years. Some people conclude one ending based on the details and clues Chopin wrote throughout the story, while others come up with a totally different opinion. Mark Cunningham writes a brilliant article on his view of the story’s ending, where he clearly conveys his take on Louis Mallard’s death. Although there are many times when he repeats the same information, Cunningham makes good use of textual evidence and authorities, as well as logic, which makes it easy to agree with his claim.

Upon my arrival, I was met by a black female adult who opened the garage door to the residence. The female was identified as Sertia Gravely. Gravely stated that her sister Anotya Hughes had been acting strangely by talking to herself and whispering as if she is talking to someone that is not there.

In Kate Chopin’s 1894 short story The Story of an Hour, a woman processes the announcement of her husband’s death. The story revolves around Louise Mallard, a young, pretty woman who has just received word that her husband, Brently Mallard, died in a train accident. Upon receiving the news from her sister Josephine, Louise immediately bursts into tears, an emotional display that, once spent, prompts her to retreat to her bedroom. After a time, Louise repeats her emotional outburst—this time with excitement at the idea she will be able to live her own life. However, Louise’s joy is cut short when her husband, having been nowhere near the accident, arrives home. Her disappointment is so profound she dies.

Louis Police Department leapt into action, even hundreds of miles away from all the destruction. Later the very same day, the police came knocking on the office’s door, brandishing their freshly penned paperwork, ink barely dry, and with a list of every single payphone number in the entire city of St. Louis. The city’s police force was on the hunt for evidence, which was the reason for the extensive list of payphones. The officers wanted to know if any of the city’s many payphones had contacted any suspicious phone numbers in the days leading up to deadly explosion. What the police was unaware of at the time was the Call Trace Center’s ability to run a query to identify every payphone, and instead had officers hand write each number(McNicholas). Someone in the office took the list and said they would get on it immediately. The monotonous clickity-clack of the room’s keyboards crescendos to fill the room as the officer who brought the numbers nodded tersely and, acting as if he very much knew that he was the elephant in the room, awkwardly shuffled out of sight, his footsteps fading into nothingness as he descended towards the street, and a feeling of

In "The Story of an Hour," I can relate to so many different things that go on in this short tragic story. After reading the story I almost felt like Louise Mallard and I were living the same life with different events and a different outcome. Everything about the two of us comes down to being always misunderstood and just wanting to be free.

How would one feel to hear the news of a significant other or loved one who has passed away due to an accident? The news is heartbreaking and rather unimaginable. “Sorry to say but your husband has died due to an accident.” No one wants to hear those words or go through the painful time. In “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin’s, the death of her husband meant freedom and happiness. Chopin’s uses a great deal of symbolism throughout the story in order to depict the theme of freedom and happiness.

In "The Story of an Hour" by Kate Chopin, there are many different themes that depicts the relationship between Mr. And Mrs. Mallard throughout the story. These themes such as freedom, confinement, loss of self, escape and alienation. These themes shows the life of a woman's life in the mid 1800's, irony and marriage. The apparent death of Mrs. Mallard's husband shows us that she was living a life without freedom, suggesting that marriage in any form is confining.

For this assignment I decided to compare and contrast two short stories, “The story of an hour” written by Kate Chopin and “A good man is hard to find” written by Flannery O’ Connor. Both stories were written by amazing writers who provide a unique style of writing, characters and narration. In the “Story of an hour” Chopin employs specific structural and stylist techniques to exaggerate the drama of the hour. The story is told in different small paragraphs making it easier to read and comprehend. Since the story is considered a short story the structure of the story is made up of short paragraphs, many which only consist of two or three sentences.

Finally she gets the courage to speak up and says “ I think you have the wrong number,” then the line went dead. After what she heard she is wanted by these criminals. Now she has to go into hiding and tries to get her life back to normal in hopes for a normal life for her beautiful baby,

Themes and symbols were the first two relevant terms that entered my mind after reading “The Story of an Hour”. The central themes I gather were freedom and death. Death is used in "The Story of an Hour" to explore the effects of death and the lethal pain it can bring upon someone. This story also explores a different side by allowing an outside character to explore the same pain without the death of a love one. For example, Mrs. Mallard’s husband friend who worked at newspaper had first-hand knowledge of his death. The story tells his pain and how confirming his friend was dead hurt, but watching his wife react to this was going to be even more painful. Freedom was another theme that spoke for its self throughout the story. The aspect of

“The Story of An Hour” focuses on sixty minutes in the life of a young nineteenth-century woman, Mrs. Mallard. Upon learning of her husband’s death, Mrs. Mallard experiences an epiphany about her future without a husband. Her life, due to heart problems, suddenly ends after she unexpectedly finds out her husband is actually alive. Mrs. Mallard’s actions cause the reader to cogitate a hidden meaning weaved into Kate‘s short story. Chopin had an idea that women felt confined in their marriages, and the idea is brought out through the protagonist’s initial reaction, excessive joy, and new perspective of the world following the upsetting news.

Kate Chopin’s impressive literary piece, The Story of an Hour, encompasses the story of an hour of life, an hour of freedom. We must seize the day and live our lives to the fullest without any constraints. This very rich and complete short story carries a lot of meaning and touches a readers feelings as well as mind. Throughout this piece much symbolism is brought about, which only helps us to understand the meaning and success of Kate Chopin’s work. Kate allows her reader to think and allows us to understand the meaning of her story with the different uses of symbols such as heart troubles, the armchair, the open window, springtime, and the calm face and goddess of victory. We eventually realize little by little that Mrs. Mallard