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Story Of An Hour Literary Analysis Essay

1372 Words6 Pages

Every human being has experienced loss of someone that was dear to him or her. Most of the time, the people affected, respond in sadness and have a difficult time accepting the loss. However, the main character in Kate Chopin’s The Story of an Hour has a different perspective on the situation. Due to a tragic accident, a sudden-made widow encounters a life without her husband. With the news of her husband’s death, the character, Mrs. Mallard is surrounded by the darkness and sadness of the people around her because of the tragedy. Later on in the story, Chopin reveals an attribute of the main character. In the writing, Mrs. Mallard’s expressed emotion is the reverse of what it predicted by the reader. Irony occurs not only through the wife’s actions, but through events that happen when the tale takes an unexpected turn at the conclusion. Overall, the tone of the story transforms from being depressing, to a sense of freedom, with an ironic element; Chopin uses the literary elements of descriptive details, imagery, and narration to reflect the shift in tone throughout the text. …show more content…

Mallard. Once the news of her husband being in an accident, people came to her house to comfort the spouse. The story states, “It was her sister Josephine who told her, in broken sentences; veiled hints that revealed in half concealing. Her husband’s friend Richards was there too, near her,” (Chopin, 150). These supporters attend in a state of grief and sympathy. Suddenly, Mrs. Mallard realizes that what the future holds for her--a bittersweet tragedy. The story describes this awareness, “She knew that she would weep again when she saw the kind, tender hands folded in death, the face that had never looked save with the love upon her, fixed and glory and dead. But she saw beyond that bitter

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