Story Of An Hour Short Story Analysis

Fictional short stories have become a common genre in the recent past. However, while authors strive to show high levels of creativity while at the same time capturing the attention of the readers, the level of success varies from one author and consequently from one story to the next. In this case, it is then possible to rank two or more stories and come up with the best among them. One of the most common and effective ways of ranking these stories is by the evaluation of the author’s utilization of various elements of fiction stories that are accepted universally. This paper will consider the story’s plot, the characters, and the point of view in order to demonstrate why the short story, “The Story of an Hour” by Chopin, ranks the best among

One of the most captivating factors that make the story stand out among the rest is its plot. According to Lucke (1999), a good short story can be easily identified through its plot, and that covers not just the actions that are featured in the short story but the sequence that the actions or events unfold as well. The story’s plot can be described very briefly as being about a woman that receives the news about her husband’s death, secretly rejoices upon receiving the news and, with her husband turning in alive, the woman loses her life in the process through a heart attack. The woman and her husband could be considered as the major characters in the story. The author elaborately uses the art of exposition in developing the plot of the story. This is because the main characters are introduced and, rather than proceeding with the story, the author takes a considerable amount of time introducing the reader to various background

According to Wasserstein (2006), the story’s point of view is a good determinant of the reader’s expectations from the story and the author. As such, an author that uses the third person is more successful in creating an omnipresent atmosphere and taking the reader through different scenes within the story. In Chopin’s story, the reader gets a chance to explore various events that happen in the story. Although the author primarily follows Mrs. Ballard, it is possible to identify events going on around her, in her mind, and the issues surrounding those around her such as her sister. As a result, this then creates a wider vantage point that enables the reader to easily follow various events at a