The Story of an Hour

Alex Herman
Language Arts, Hour 4, Johann
January 18, 2010
The Story of an Hour

Imagine receiving a letter telling that your husband has just died in a terrible train crash. Well, in the short story, The Story of an Hour, Louise Mallard hears this tragic news. At least, you would think that it is tragic news. This story is written in the tragic mode of literature with a lot of good symbolism and the author has some facts of herself. The story is written in the tragic mode because first, the story starts with Louise’s world in conflict; her husband has just died in a train crash. Yet, even with this kind of news, she is not sad. Instead, she is happy because she is finally free, free at last, and that is how she rises to power. Her flaw was that she was a women, and women did not have any rights and did not control the money so she could not get a divorce. Her tragic fall is that she is so happy that when she found out her husband was still alive, she died. The story ends in her dying because she is so unhappy that her husband is still alive that she simply died, other people think that it may have been a heart attack, since she had heart problems. The symbolism is very good in this story. It is so well written that it is almost like you were there the whole time. The author uses very good symbolism. For example, storm of grief, creeping out of the sky, and gray and dead, which were just some of the symbols used in that story. It is so symbolic with a little bit of every mode, yet the story has more tragic symbolism than anything because of her death. Kate Choplin is the great author behind the story, The Story of an Hour. She was one of the first women writers to publish stories. Back then, women were like outlaws and all they were supposed to do was sit at home, take care of the children, and cook food. Women weren’t supposed to go outside alone, they had to have a man with them. Since she wrote this she was part of a very small group of people who helped change women rights and were more respected.
The Story of an Hour was written by one of the first women authors in American history. It used lots of good symbolism that helped you find the tragic mode of literature in the story. This is a good story that everybody can read and still learn a little bit about American history. Next time you think your husband is dead, don’t be too happy, or you might be disappointed.