Review of the book "The Story of an Hou" by Keith Chopin

The Joy That Kills

In “The Story of an Hour” Kate Chopin introduces us to Mrs. Mallard, a middle aged woman with a heart condition, who has suddenly learned that her husband has died in a train accident. This news starts Mrs. Mallard on an emotional rollercoaster where she will have to deal with sadness, freedom, and finally happiness all within an hour.

After Mrs. Mallard discovers that her husband has died she “wept at once, with sudden, wild abandonment, in her sister’s arms.” (Chopin, 337) She is suddenly overwhelmed with sadness, and the thought of her husband being dead is inconceivable. Mrs.Mallard battles with death on a daily basis, always having to be reluctant against disturbances that could cause her to die. The fact that it is her husband, and not her, that suddenly dies is almost a joke. Death symbolises the unknown, and the joke itself. We can never be sure of when or how our time on earth will come to an end. Death plays suddenly and dirty. Even when Mrs. Mallard thought that she had cheated death and could finally start living her life to the fullest, death manifests itself and laughs at her face ultimately succumbing her to her own death. On a happy last note, however, the few minutes Mrs. Mallard gets to enjoy her new free life are probably the happiest she has had for a long time.

When the grief has spent itself Mrs. Mallard goes up to her room and stands in front of an open window. The open window represents her new life and all the possibilities that come with being a free woman. Her life opens up bringing endless new ideas and possibilities. Mrs. Mallard was very sad and worried her life would be long and lonely. However, as she stands up in front of that window her body is immersed with a new feeling that she had never felt before. This feeling posses her, and “she abandons herself, and whispers under her breath: free, free, free!” Freedom is a feeling that she had not felt in a long time, and with the death of her husband her life was finally back. She will now be able to live for herself instead of for her husband. Josephine no longer feel repressed. She finally has a say in her life, she can decide for herself and do as she wishes. She is overjoyed with happiness.

Lastly, once Josephine emerges from her bedroom she does so with “Triumph in her eyes,and she carries herself unwittingly like a goddess.”(Chopin,338) The new way she carries herself takes the reader right into her head, we see that she has never felt as happy as she does now. Josephine finally has self possession, a feeling that she had never had before and that makes her feel like she is on top of the world. She knows that for now on she will be able to make her own decisions, and spend the rest of her days as she pleases. She looks forward to a long and happy life. Nonetheless, in a twist of events, she comes down the stairs to find out her husband has cheated death

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