The Story of an Hour

This story was only two pages long, but it evoked such strong emotion from me! When Chopin describes the emotions felt by Mrs. Mallard, I couldn't help but get upset. "There stood, facing the open window, a comfortable, roomy armchair. Into this she sank, pressed down by physical exhaustion that haunted her body and seemed to reach into her soul" (Chopin 267). This imagery is so precise I could see the old woman exhausted in the chair. I could see the physical and emotional exhaustion's toll on the poor old woman. Losing a loved one is one of the hardest things to deal with, especially a significant other. This reminds me of when my grandfather passed away. My grandmother was so exhausted from the news my father had to carry her to bed because she could not move. One thing in the story that confused me was Chopin's description of Mrs. Mallard's love for her husband. She said said, "And yet she had loved him-sometimes. Often she had not" (268). Why did she only love him sometimes? What happened that affected her love for her husband? I wonder if Chopin is just making a statement about marriage. Marriage is something you have to work at and it may not always be great all the time. Or maybe Chopin is literally hinting at a problem in the Mallard's marriage. I was also taken back by the statement "life might be long" (268). This statement got me so upset. The woman realizes now that life without her husband will seem a lot longer than she anticipated.