The Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin

The Story of an Hour

Kate Chopin's, "The Story of an Hour," is a bittersweet story that leaves out many details which the reader has to fill in. The story kept my attention from the first sentence until the end, and I enjoyed reading it. My first response after reading the piece was shocking, and I found it disturbing that Mrs. Mallard was happy when she found out her husband was dead. I had many questions and few answers. Did they have children? How old was Mrs. Mallard? How long had she had a heart condition? Emotions such as sadness, shock, grief, and guilt are normal reactions when a loved one dies; therefore it was easy to sympathize with Mrs. Mallard and forgive her rather than judge her for her feelings and emotions as the story unfolds.

Several points stood out in the piece as Mrs. Mallard struggled with happiness and guilt after hearing the news of her husband's death. Although Mr. Mallard did not appear to be an abusive husband, Mrs. Mallard seemed to be unhappy in her marriage. Now, for the first time, she considered the possibility of having a future and being free from the ties of marriage as she looked out the window and saw spring and the new life that it could bring. The descriptions used in the story are not related to death. "The delicious breath of rain; the notes of a distant song; countless sparrows were twittering; patches of blue sky." These descriptions are referring to the new beginning she desired.

Clearly, Mr. Mallard loved his wife in the description "the face that had never looked saved with love upon her." The narrator shared in one of the quotes, "And yet she loved him—sometimes. Often she did not." I understood from the direct and to-the-point language that Mrs. Mallard was probably controlled by her husband and did not have strong feelings for him, and the marriage was not a happy one. When Mrs. Mallard