The Story of an Hour Critique - Essay Example

Full The Story of an Hour The story of an Hour by Kate Chopin portrays ironies that could be true in a relationship. It is the story of a woman with a heart disease whose husband was presumed dead on a car accident where he was thought to have been involved in, and great care was taken to break the news to her as gently as could possibly be. Her sister Josephine, who told her about the death of Brently Mallard, the husband, was worried that Mrs. Mallard woman would be depressed and greatly grieved over the news which might consequently affect her health, but quite the opposite happened. The woman instead lavished the future she was expecting to have without her husband, a future that was all hers, alone. Death or loss of a loved one usually brings grief and it is a normal reaction people always expect from the bereaved family so that Josephine was worried her sister might get even sicker with an already existing heart disease, when she hears about the death of her husband. She did cry hard, as an initial reaction to knowing that her husband died, that she just lost an important person in her life. I could quite relate to this, having lost my grandmother a few years earlier. She was a big figure in our home, always having the time to spend with us and having strong influences to the family, being a determined person. I grew fond of my grandmother because she always helped me with my works at home and in school, played with me most of the time and when I was in my adolescent stage, she always gave me advices that served me much wisdom in my growing up. Losing her affected me so much. I did not have the appetite to eat and the house just made me miss her even more whenever I remember her voice and laughter, when I see the things that she used to work with or the places she frequently spent her leisure time. There was a feeling of emptiness in me especially during the first few months and sometimes it is just overwhelming I shed tears remembering her. So the weeping of the wife in a “sudden, wild abandonment” as described in the story is understandable, because the emotions over death are simply gripping, one would not mind how s/he looks or what others might say about him/her. Crying is a universal language used to express grief that most would understand even without words. “And yet she loved him- sometimes”, is a line from the story that shows Mrs. Mallard’s reflection of her husband. Her initial reaction mentioned earlier was because of that love that she had for her husband. However, no matter how much a person loves another, there comes a time in one’s life that the love grows cold or dies. This could be so because of how a person treats another and an action could also go the opposite direction. In the example of my grandmother, I think I grew up to like her so much because she was a kind person. I could say she pampered me with all the things I asked from her and probably gave me more attention than my mother did. Simple things like buying clothes for me, taking me to the park and cooking my food were always a joy for my grandmother to do and she never seemed to get tired of what she was doing. She usually took me out to restaurants and there shared me a lot about her childhood experiences, asked me about how I was fairing in school, inquiring about my friends and giving me advices on some problems. There were times that she got angry with me and scold me really hard but those were covered with all the love that she has shown me so the scolding rather had a positive effect on me. Looking at the character of the husband and wife in the story, the reason why Mrs. Mallard was very happy of the future she foresaw despite the fact that she loved her husband, was the treatment she got from Mr. Mallard. On the opposite direction, the reason for such a reaction towards the death of a loved one was due to an unfair treatment, probably a love that was not reciprocated, was ignored or abused. The story described the hands of Brently Mallard as kind and tender which means the husband did not abuse the woman physically but the abuse was probably psychological. The reason why Mrs. Mallard looked forward to a future lived by herself is because of the feeling that she was caged by her own husband, having no freedom to do things the way she wanted them to be or go places that she wished to visit. This could be shown in the words she uttered when she was alone in her room, “Free, free, free!” The words were repeated thrice which emphasizes the importance of the main character’s desire, the want for freedom. Written in the late nineteenth century when women were not as liberal as the modern women, Mrs. Mallard probably had the problem of feeling alone and not loved by being left in the house most of the time. Women were perceived then to be housekeepers in the sense that they should do no other jobs but attend to household chores, raise children and take care of their husbands. However, in the case of the couple in the story, they had no children and Mrs. Mallard was probably the kind of person who loved to go places so that staying home alone probably seemed to her like being imprisoned. The words she kept whispering, “Free! Body and soul free!” gives the reader a glimpse to this thought of Mrs. Mallard. For who would want freedom but one who has been imprisoned? Her husband may have been a good provider and a good person but the suggestions of the society locked them both in a relationship where bitterness was planted instead of a love that could have been nurtured. No matter how a person might want to be good, the environment probably might always have an effect in a person’s life like that of the Mallard couple and in contradiction, even the vilest person when immersed in a place where there is so much love, would have a change of heart and become a better person. I believe that the person I am today was greatly affected by the people who surrounded me. Although I am not counting on my environment alone of who I will become, I believe my beliefs and character have been built on the ideas, teachings and experiences I have been through. Being raised in a loving family, I learned to be understanding of others, forgiving and being humble in circumstances that call for such attitudes. Life being full of ironies is probably one of the messages the author wanted to bring to the reader’s attention in the story as it was shown twice in the last one hour of the life of Mrs. Mallard. First, her sister was worried sick of her that she might be very weak and might not be able to stand the grief the death of her husband might bring. However, the woman proved to be strong enough to withstand the bout of death and instead of feeling deeply saddened with it, she rather felt glad. In fair judgment of the character, it is not that she hated her husband to the point of wanting him dead but she cherished her freedom more than she loved being married to loneliness, being left alone most of the time. Similar circumstances abound in this world, not on the same issue of death but on matters that a person usually expects. Sometimes, one is surprised at just how another person reacts unexpectedly. Sometimes, you help a person and you expect that individual to be indebted to you, making him/her humble and thankful you extended a hand however, there are people in this case who treat you like you owe him/her more. Sometimes the people you expect to be happy over small favors are the ones who complain about it and those you expect to be ungrateful are the ones who show more gratitude than what you expect from the other. The people we suppose to be weak sometimes prove to be the survivors and vice versa. In the case of Mrs. Mallard, she was expected not to be able to survive the news because of her weak heart but then from the author’s note of her characteristics, she was described to have lines on her face that showed repression and certain strength and proved her audiences’ expectations wrong. The story ends in irony with the declaration of the doctors that Mrs. Mallard “died of heart disease- of the joy that kills”, of the joy of seeing her husband alive. Have they known what transpired in the mind of the woman, that her happiness exceeded her grief over her husband’s death, they would not have made such pronouncement about her death. Her physical death was probably a symbolism of the end of the hope for the freedom she desired because as they discovered that Mr. Mallard was not after all involved in the accident, the wife’s dreams of freedom ended. The death of the woman is an irony in itself because she was able to withstand the blows of the news that was feared would make her sick or even kill her but she died because of shock that her bright future was suddenly dimmed with the appearance of her husband. Doctors say she died of joy but she died of grief over the end of her dreams that made her happy for a moment after knowing that she will be free for the years to come. The story exposes that the day before, Mrs. Mallard thought with a shudder that life would be long and when she considered what life she will enjoy now that her husband died, she prayed that her life would be long. She died shortly after that. Life indeed is full of surprises and sometimes they just come like a joke, an irony that would probably exist while there is life. Read More