Death is the one concept that we can not avoid and at some point we all encounter it, how we arrive or how our fate will be decided is what will vary. This being the case with Louise Mallard, the main character from Kate Chopin’s The Story of an Hour and the grandmother, the main character from Flannery O’Connor’s A Good Man is Hard to Find. They physical aspects of their respective deaths and their backgrounds which gives an insight on why they died are different, but both their deaths represent an emotional and symbolic characteristic. Louise Mallard and the grandmother both have a story to tell and it is told through the eyes of death.
Louise Mallard was a woman that felt she was confined in marriage and had her no life of her own, which
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She said it over and over under her breath: "free, free, free!" (Chopin). This was the first time that Louise Mallard tasted freedom and the feeling was so overwhelming that she couldn’t contain herself. The thought of being free after years of oppression was too much for to handle. There would be no one to live for during those coming years; she would live for herself. 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 (Chopin). This can give one insight on why she died from heart failure, something she cherished to be take from her at a moments notice was just too much to overcome. The grandmother’s manipulative ways lead her down the wrong path. The first act came when she snuck her cat Pitty Sing along for the ride, knowing her son disliked arriving with the cat. She had her big black valise that looked like the head of a hippopotamus in one corner, and underneath it she was hiding a basket with Pitty Sing, the cat, in it. She didn't intend for the cat to be left alone in the house for three days because he would miss her too much and she was afraid he might brush against one of the gas burners and accidentally asphyxiate himself. Her son, Bailey, didn't like to arrive at a motel with a cat (O’Connor). The irony in this would be that the cat would be the cause of the …show more content…
Louise Mallard’s death was due to a heart attack that occurred after she learned her husband had not been killed in a train wreck, while the grandmother’s demise was in the form of being shot to death by the Misfit. Though I concede that how they died is different, I still insist that they both died at the hands of an another person. Louise died symbolically at the hands of her husband. Even though he didn’t physically kill her, emotionally he contributed to her demise. When Louise seen her husband had not been killed, her joy that she felt came and went, leading to a heart attack. The grandmother died physically at the hands of the misfit, but it was her emotions that caused him to kill her. His voice seemed about to crack and the grandmother's head cleared for an instant. She saw the man's face twisted close to her own as if he were going to cry and she murmured, "Why you're one of my babies. You're one of my own children!" She reached out and touched him on the shoulder. The Misfit sprang back as if a snake had bitten him and shot her three times through the chest (O’ Connor). It seemed that the grandmother saw a glimpse of weakness with the Misfit, when she recognized that he was about cry and that’s when she tried to play on his emotions even more by reaching out and touching him; which caused her to be
Mallard had died in it. Obviously, after hearing the news of her husband's death Louise was grieving, and she cried uncontrollably. But, then something changed in her mind. She thought to herself, now that he is dead, she can truly be free from the oppression that he gave her. After hearing this she began thinking about freedom, and she whispered to herself “free, free, free” (
Louise, the unfortunate spouse of Brently Mallard dies of a supposed “heart disease.” Upon the doctor’s diagnosis, it is the death of a “joy that kills.” This is a paradox of happiness resulting into a dreadful ending. Nevertheless, in reality it is actually the other way around. Of which, is the irony of Louise dying due to her suffering from a massive amount of depression knowing her husband is not dead, but alive. This is the prime example to show how women are unfairly treated. If it is logical enough for a wife to be this jovial about her husband’s mournful state of life then she must be in a marriage of never-ending nightmares. This shows how terribly the wife is being exploited due her gender in the relationship. As a result of a female being treated or perceived in such a manner, she will often times lose herself like the “girl
Yesterday, at 5 p.m., Mrs. Louise Mallard’s immediate emotions of enjoyment from seeing her husband alive, who was thought to be dead, lead to a heart attack, confronting her with death.
This is a story about freedom, a story that exemplifies what it truly means to live freely, to be able to express one’s self throughout life, and that sometimes we may only find that freedom in death. Our main character, Mrs. Louise Mallard, is first introduced to us as the wife of Brently Mallard, not as herself, not as Louise. It begins by informing us that Mrs. Mallard, as she is referred, has “a heart trouble, great care was taken to break to her as gently as possible the news of her husband’s death” (236). Initially the deeper meaning of this statement is not obvious. We assume, at least on the surface, they mean simply that her cardiac health is questionable, and so great care must be taken not to cause her distress.
The theme the author uses in both the beginning and the ending has something that has to do with Mrs. Mallard’s heart trouble, in both physically and mentally. In the beginning, it tells us “Knowing that Mrs. Mallard was afflicted with a heart trouble” (524) as a medical term. But over time, we see that its more on her psychological mind and is more of an emotional state than a medical condition. In the ending the author compared Mrs. Mallard’s death to heart disease “When the doctors came they said she had died of heart disease of joy that kills” (525). Ironically the story is telling us that Louise was happy that she was free but became dissatisfied about Brently’s return which to her means that he has taken her
Mallard realizes that her husband has died, she realizes that she is free, something which was unusual for women in the mid 1800’s. She said it over and over under her breath: “`free, free, free! `” (151). Her husband’s death represents a new life for Mrs. Mallard. Mark, Cunningham notes, “Mary E. Papke has noted that the reader learns Louise’s first name only after Louise accepts her `new consciousness` of freedom; before that Louise is Mrs. Mallard” (1).
“The Story of an Hour” was considered daring in the nineteenth century. The author, Kate Chopin, wrote of a women who showed her real feeling towards her husband’s death to the reader. Louise Mallard felt joy in the fact that she would be free from her husband. These feelings were concealed from her sister and friend, Josephine and Richards. If the characters were shown the true feelings of Mrs. Mallard, how would they react based on their character and on the attitudes of the period?
Mallard has an epiphany and realizes how much she can do on her own if her spouse’s will is not holding her back. Immediately before Mrs. Mallard has this epiphany, the narrator depicts lots of positive imagery. Louise is seeing that the “the tops of trees…were all aquiver with new spring life.” Before Mrs. Mallard recognizes her newfound freedom, she sees “patches of blue skies showing here and there through the clouds.” Lousise than realizes that without a spouse she can “live for herself.” Mrs. Louise Mallard realizes that “self-assertion” is the “strongest impulse of her being.” Mrs. Mallard looks forward to the rest of her days that “would be her own.” Mrs. Mallard murmurs the words “free, free, free!” and feels relaxed while saying it. Mrs. Mallard is looking forward to the opportunities that have opened for her as a single
In the opening of The Story of an Hour, Louise Mallard is portrayed as a weak and delicate creature. However, she is an intelligent and independent woman who understands her place in society. The author first presents Louise, the protagonist, with a “heart trouble” (par 1). This causes her sister and long-time family friend to tiptoe around her before gently breaking the news of her husband’s death in a train accident. Louise does care for this man, but she cries fast and never denies the fact that he is dead. Most women of the time would not have accepted that he was dead so quickly. Even with her heart affliction and the death of her husband, she grows throughout her story and soon she finds a newfound freedom shortly before it is ripped away.
In "The Story of an Hour" by Kate Chopin, we are introduced to Mrs. Mallard. She is portrayed an unloving, heartless, woman who is overjoyed by the passing of her husband- or at least that is the common misconception. Mrs. Mallard although perceived as inhuman, is actually more human than most would like to believe. While her actions may seem questionable or even to be condemned, they are hardly unthinkable in light of the issues involving marriage and the woman's role throughout history. The story itself presents a valid argument in favor of Louise as she is portrayed as the oppressed wife finally set free after her husband's death.
The main character in this story, Louise Mallard shows us her dream of freedom and proves these people wrong when her husband, Brently Mallard, dies. Louise’s husband was on a list of people that died in a railroad disaster. They tell her carefully since she has a heart condition. She starts crying, but afterwards she begins to think of all the positive things that come from his death. Her sister, Josephine goes upstairs to make sure she is okay,and once she finds out she is they come down. As they walk down the stairs she sees the door being opened and her husband comes in. Having her heart condition, she dies. The doctors thought “she had died from heart disease-of joy that kills.” However, she didn't die from the joy of getting to see her living husband but from losing her future filled with freedom.
Many people interpret that Louise passes away from shock and disappointment from discovering her husband is actually alive. They feel that when Louise finally accepts that her husband is deceased and she discovers freedom, that seeing her husband alive causes her to get depressed, go into shock, and die. On the other hand, a more unique interpretation of Mallard’s death would be that she passed away from excitement and anxiousness from being completely independent, and having various opportunities in store for herself. Mallard may have not been able to handle the new exhilaration directly after experiencing deep depression and grief from the news of her husband’s accident. Some supporting evidence that Louise did not collapse from seeing her husband alive, is that the passage never directly states that she actua...
Upon hearing of her husband’s death, Louise Mallard experienced grief, “but she saw beyond that bitter moment a long procession of years to come that would belong to her absolutely” (14). Louise, in her marriage, felt confined and in restraint of living her life to the fullest, so consequently she was put into an authoritative state whenever her husband’s death was disclosed to her. Her inner battle of having to bend to the will of her husband or even sharing love between them is trumped by being able to better serve herself, and only herself. She wondered “what could love, the unsolved mystery, count for in face of this possession of self-assertion which she suddenly recognized as the strongest impulse of her being” (14)! Louise Mallard wanted to be in control of her life. It was of her deepest desire to call every single one of her shots, and not have to be imposed upon with her husband’s
When Louise Mallard first hears that her husband was killed in a railroad accident, "she wept at once," and "went away to her room alone" (12). As she mourns, looking out of her window on the second floor of her home, a sudden change of heart begins to come over her. She notices "the delicious breath of rain," " a peddler . . . crying his wares," "notes of a distant song," "countless sparrows . . . twittering," and "patches of blue sky," "all aquiver with the new spring life" (13). As she stares at the sky, she begins to think about her newfound independence from her husband, uttering the words "free, free, free!" (13). What makes her develop such a sudden change in attitude? Could it be that she sees rebirth in the world through her wind...
“Free! Body and soul free! She kept whispering”. Not once did she ever seem to acknowledge the fact she has to deal with all the burdens of a “loved” one’s death. She only felt the immense feeling of freedom. She now had no one to live for but herself, and that made her so overjoyed. Through her expression of the emotions escaping through her body, her sister thought it was sorrow not happiness that possessed her sister. “Josephine was kneeling before the closed door with her lips to the keyhole, imploring her to let her in. Louise, open the door! I beg; open the door- you will make yourself ill.” Mrs. Mallard was not making herself ill at all, but infact was taking all her newly found freedom.