Story Of An Hour Response Essay

The Response of an Hour “The Story of an Hour” is a two page short story written by Kate Chopin (born February 8, 1851 died August 22, 1904) (Larsson Donald, and Erskine Thomas 1), but despite its small size, it is filled with conflicting emotions and symbolism. The amount of well-hidden symbolism can make it very confusing, but it also gives the story an unlimited amount of meaning. At first glance, many may not realize that the sky is a symbol, or understand a kind “of joy that kills” (Chopin 128), and cannot comprehend the mental state someone must be in to feel “free” (129) from hearing of the death of her spouse. “The Story of an Hour” is about a woman named Mrs. Mallard whom has a heart problem. The “story” of her husband’s death was first relayed through telegram to one of her husband’s friend Richards and is broken to her by her sister Josephine. Once Josephine tells Mrs. Mallard of what is sure to be terrible news, she is devastated, at first. She “wept at once, with sudden, wild abandonment, in her sister’s arms” (Chopin 128) and then went to her room by herself. In that room, she begins to convince herself that this could be a good thing and that she is now “free” (129). Once she leaves the room with “a feverish triumph in her eyes” (129) she watches her husband walk through the front door safe

Mallard has a heart problem (Chopin 128); this will become important as she later dies “of heart disease” (Chopin 129) which makes a pattern as the story both starts and ends the story. Because of Mrs. Mallard’s heart problem, both Josephine and Richards tried to break the news as gentle as possible. So Josephine told her “in broken sentences; veiled hints that revealed in half concealing” (Chopin 128) about her husband’s death. The way Josephine tried to convey this message shows that it should have had a longer effect than the short moment she cried “with sudden, wild abandonment, in her sister’s arms” (Chopin