The Story of an Hour

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The Story of an Hour

The story of the hour is, to me, an interesting short story of the insight into the life thoughts of a woman struggling with a life that is proper and sociably acceptable and her own desires. Upon reading the opening passage “Knowing that Mrs. Mallard was afflicted with a heart trouble, great care was taken to break to her as gently as possible the news of her husband’s death.” (1) The reader, in this case I, would understand quickly that the main character of the story, Mrs. Mallard, must be treated with tenderness. We also learn that grave news is coming her way in a most careful manner. Reading further the actions of the main character would show shock, confusion, surprise, and other anxiety of a life without someone that is presumed to be her love as indicated by this line. “She did not hear the story as many have heard the same, with a paralyzed inability to accept its significance.” (3)

It was with that line I paused to consider that nevertheless, what the actions of anyone would be if informed of such news. Would it be expected for him or her would sit silent and numb as thoughts conflicted in his or her head until reaching a critical point? I recalled my own experience that would be somewhat similar and compared the two thoughts to each other. When I reached the conclusion that yes, it would be expected for someone to be in a state of shock and sit in quiet thought as the information is being processed. This line of thought was confirmed quickly with the following line “She wept at once, with sudden, wild abandonment, in her sister’s arms.” (3) it was also this point that purposefully mislead the reader to a red herring thought that perhaps the main character was struck heavily with grief.

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...esent may have thought it of overpowering joy at no longer being a widow. With the final line drawing the close to a story that I found to be a most interesting insight into the quick thoughts of a dreaming mind “ When the doctors came they said she died of heart disease-of joy that kills.” (23) I think this line to portray a double meaning, one that the other characters in the story would say was of the joy of seeing her husband home safe, while the main character the death would have been for daring to dream hopeful and accepting without all knowledge and assurance what ultimately proved to be false.

Chopin, Kate. the Story of an Hour. Boston, MA: The Compact Bedford Introduction to Literature, 2009. Print.

Works Cited

Chopin, Kate. the Story of an Hour. Boston, MA: The Compact Bedford Introduction to Literature, 2009. Print.

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