Kate Chopin's 'Story Of An Hour'

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Can you hear the voices? In a story there is always more that just one voice to be heard. Can you hear them? It is only necessary to look closely and read the text, then you can hear them. In Kate Chopin’s story, “Story of an Hour,” there are four distinct voices that can be heard. You are able to hear the narrator, author, character, and yourself as you read. As the title of the story states, the entire plot happens in just one measly hour. Chopin opens up the story immediately informing the reader that Louise Mallard, the main character, has some heart troubles. Then it moves on to reveal that her husband, Brently Mallard, has died. When Louise’s sister and Brently’s friend inform her of the unfortunate accident she falls under a “storm …show more content…

Louis, Missouri. She married Oscar Chopin in 1870 and then they moved to New Orleans. Oscar died unexpectedly of malaria in 1882, leaving Kate a widow at the young age of 32. Embracing her new life, she moved back to St. Louis and began to write literature. In the story, the author and narrator are not the same. The narrator is only privy to the emotions of one character. Chopin inserts her personal opinions into the story, and the story mirrors her life. Chopin feels that women are oppressed by their husbands, and only when they are not longer under their husband is a women truly free. Kate Chopin uses repetition, and minimalistic style to tell the story. Repetition helps reiterate and emphasize the main themes. Chopin uses statements about Louise Mallard’s heart issue at the beginning and end of the story to show that Louise has a physical and emotional heart trouble. She also uses the word “free” throughout most of the story to emphasize her opinion about the oppression of women (Epperson 60). Chopin makes every aspect of this story minimal. The story itself only covers one hour. The story is also very short, with each paragraph only being 2-3 sentences. Another aspect that Chopin employs the minimalistic style is her use of a limited third person narrator. The narrator only clues the reader in on Louise’s emotions and of nothing else, leaving the reader with only a small part of the entire

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