Story Of An Hour Literary Analysis

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Lauren Oliver once stated, “I’d rather die my way than live yours,” meaning that it is better to die living a way you would enjoy, rather than just be alive but not actually living a quality of life that is enjoyable. The Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin is a fictional short story in which she uses symbols to help show how independence is a necessity in life. In the novel, Mrs. Mallard’s husband was on a business trip when suddenly a terrible railroad disaster occurred. On the top of the list marked ‘dead’ was Mr. Mallard’s name. This caused a predicament for nobody knew how to tell Mrs. Mallard because of her delicate heart. Following the news, Mrs. Mallard went to her room alone, placing herself on a comfortable chair, and she began staring …show more content…

Mallard’s weak heart as a way to show that you can either live life happily and risk it all, or live life without a purpose while knowing you’ll be safe. “She breathed a quick prayer that life might be long. It was only yesterday she had thought with a shudder that life might be long” (18). This part is significant because she now has this newfound hope that will translate into a new life. This is in opposition to her prior thinking that she did not particularly care whether or not her life would be long. “ ‘Go away. I am not making myself ill.’ No; she was drinking in a very elixir of life through that open window” (17). Since the window is showing the freedom she newly gained, it relates to her heart because Mrs. Mallard now has a purpose to live; the adventures that await her. Another event from the text that supports this theory is, “When the doctors came they said she had died of heart disease--of the joy that kills” (21). This depiction gives the impression of living life to the fullest no matter what you might face afterwards, or what you might have gone through in the past. Hence, the heart condition Mrs. Mallard is struggling with is a way to show that living life to the fullest is what should be done, whether it be detrimental to your health or not, living life with no reason will always be equivalent to not living at

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