66, Jalan Sin Lok 2,

Taman Sin Lok,

31000 Kuala Kangsar,
Perak Darul Ridzuan.

Dear Leela,

How are you my dear friend? Hope you are doing fine. How is your family doing? I’m at the
peak of my health. It’s been a while since my last letter to you about a short story that I shared with
you. I’m going to share another masterpiece that I read few weeks ago.
The title of the short story that I’m going to explain to you is “The Story of An Hour” by
Kate Chopin. As you know Kate Chopin is one of the many women authors and had produced
wonderful literature pieces. “The Story of An Hour” is an impressive literary piece which touches a
reader’s feelings as well as mind. Kate Chopin is an author from middle of 1800. Back then women
are dehumanized by man. Women in that period always under the watchful eyes of a male gaze. This
is what Kate Chopin portrayed in almost all her short stories and novels. She is a fighter for woman
kind. As you can see this story is short but every word has import in the story and each line has great
depth of meaning with deep sense. It is also very rich and complete. It also proved that it is possible
to infer a great idea of a woman’s life with little space on the surface.
Kate Chopin represents a negative view of marriage by presenting the reader with a woman
who is clearly overjoyed that her husband has died. Another interesting point in the story is Chopin’s
use of foreshadowing. The first sentence in the story is the most obvious use of the foreshadowing
technique in the entire story. From this we would know and can infer that something bad is about to
happen to this lady. A heart attack perhaps. The main character of this story is Mrs. Mallard Louise,
Mr. Brently Mallard, husband of Louise, Ms. Josephine, sister of Louise and Mr. Richard, a friend of
Brently Mallard.
The story is set in the late nineteenth century in the home of Louise Mallard. The theme of
this story is about a woman’s search for selfhood, for self discovery or identity, women who revolt
against formality, often again gender conformity or against several norms that limit a woman’s
possibilities in life. Kate Chopin uses major literary elements such as personification, imagery,
irony, simile and metaphor. These literary elements enhance the meaning by giving examples and
expression to make it more understandable.
To make the story short, it’s a story of the life of main character, Mrs. Mallard. She is
afflicted with a heart problem. Bad news has come about that her husband has died in a train
accident. Her sister Josephine and Richard has to break the horrifying news to her as gently as
possible. They both were concerned that the news might somehow put Mrs. Mallard’s health in
jeopardy. Turns out to be Mrs. Mallard reacts to the news with excitement. Even though it’s heart
breaking news, she is finally free from the depressing life she was living. She is now happy for she
doesn’t have to live for anyone but herself. At the end of the story, Mr. Mallard opens the door and
is surprised by Josephine’s cry. Mr. Mallard had no idea of the train casualty. Mrs. Mallard fall to
ground as she saw Mr. Mallard is alive standing in front of her. Unfortunately it was too late.
Doctors said she died of heart disease. Actually the surprise that she saw her husband alive was the
shocking moment that leads to her death. The story ends with a short phrase “of joy that kills”.
Personification is stated in the line follows “she was young, with a fair, calm face, whose line
bespoke repression”. This element shows how strongly she is in repression. The line “the delicious
breath if rain was in the air. In the street below peddler was crying his wares. The notes of a distant
song which someone was singing reached her faintly, and countless sparrows were twittering in the
eaves” portrayed imagery of this story. This allows the reader to see and feel the environment that
the character is in. “The patches of clouds” is the representative of the different aspects of
relationship she shared with her husband. She felt as a puppet and suffocated by his protection and
affections. “The blue skies” and “the delicious breath” denote the clearing of the oppression and
chances for renewal.
Chopin uses metaphor as an element to convey the feeling of being free after such long time
of imprisonment. “Open windows” suggest that she was free to see the outside world without any
strings attached to her as before. The fun of released from her husband become a detrimental to her
health where she had cardiac arrest that leads to her death. This is for her large disappointment of her
freedom that she gets disappeared in a glance.
Since you also a woman, you should be able to understand and enjoy reading the story that
relates to women’s treatment in 1850s and 1900s. Women are meant to be a house maker and
nothing but a server to her husband. The ending of the story by Kate Chopin is really a twist where
the main character dies of overjoyed. I have explained to you my opinion about the story. Please let
me know what do you think and write to me as soon as possible. Hope you enjoy reading and it
would definitely be useful to you.

Yours sincerely,

……………………….