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At first glance Kate Collins The story of an hour does not seem particularly interesting. A closer look must be taken in order to see the true meaning of the story. There is more symbolism in this four-page story than in most of the four hundred page books I have read throughout my life. It is probably impossible to find every sciolistic word in the story, but some things definitely stick out. The first sentence of the story is knowing that Mrs. Mallard was afflicted with heart trouble, great care was taken to break to her as gently as possible the news of her husbands death.
The first thing we are told about the main character is that she has a bad heart. It seems that this is what people see when they look at Mrs. Mallard, someone weak and fragile. I personally got an image of an old lady, which I later learned she is not. Her heart condition shows that she has had a hard life, is wise beyond her years, or has an old soul. In response to hearing the bad news, she wept at once, with sudden, wild abandonment...
Her reaction shows that she is a passionate person, a lot more soulful than I would have thought. While other wives could not accept the fact that their husbands were dead, she took to it immediately and began the grieving process all at once. As she sits alone mourning her now late husband, she sat in the armchair facing the window and had a feeling that haunted her body and seemed to reach into her soul. This seems like she is feeling the hold her husband had on her that she couldnt seem to escape even after hes gone. The haunting her body can be thought of as physical abuse. Since this story was written in a time where the man solely ran the household and women were docile and submissive, it isnt unfathomable for a husband to hit his wife.
The new spring life could represent the new life that she could have now that she was a widow. The peddler crying symbolizes her old life and how she felt during the years of her marriage. There were patches of blue sky showing here and there through the clouds facing her window. The patches though the clouds represent more of a silver lining. Though she did love her husband, him being gone gave her the freedom to do as she wished, not as he commanded. She begins to feel something possess her and she was striving to beat it back with her will.
We later learn that it is the word free that possesses her, and that she was as powerless as her two white slender hands would have been at keeping it pent up. But why would she try to hold back such a good thing? Perhaps she was feeling guilty about being happy when a death is supposed to be such a sad thing. The mention about her hands being powerless brings up the topic of physical abuse again. A monstrous joy is not a figure of speech used often, but it is what the author used to describe what Mrs. Mallard was feeling.
Joy being monstrous invokes the thought that you shouldnt be happy in the first place. Being overjoyed that your husband died horribly is not the normal way to feel. Though she had loved him sometimes she had not been able to live for herself. He had always come first. He loved her as well as shown when she thinks of the face that never looked save with love upon her. But that didnt mean that he wasnt a harsh man.
When saying that he only looked at her with love, it could mean that he never compassion, tenderness or kindness for her. Living without those things for years would make for a difficult life. It is only near the end of the story in which we learn Mrs. Mallards first name, Louise. I believe the author waited, because she was always seen as Brently Mallards wife, and not as her own person. With him gone, she was a separate entity.
She was now drinking in a very elixir of life. The word elixir means, a medicine regarded as a cure for all ills the open window from which she is drinking this elixir symbolizes a window of opportunity. Feeling empowered and like a goddess of victory she left the room and was ready to begin her new life. Feeling like a goddess suggests a feeling of great power and beauty, but being a goddess of victory means that she triumphed over advisory. The adversity could be Mr. Mallard.
Brently Mallard... entered, a little travel stained, composedly carrying his gripsack and umbrella. His gripsack was probably a backpack or traveling suitcase, this might symbolize the hold he has on Mrs. Mallard. His hold could have been so tight that it killed her.
The shock of seeing her supposed to be deceased husband made Mrs. Mallards heart stop. The doctors said that she died of joy that kills. This can be seen as many things. They believe she was so happy to see him that her heart couldnt take it, but us as the readers know better. Perhaps the joy she felt about starting a new life and the half dread, half joy from seeing her husband alive was too much for her weak heart to take.
Still, others might think that she was punished for being so happy that her husband was dead. But it was stated earlier in the story that it was only yesterday that she had thought with a shudder that life might be long after she prayed she would live long so she could enjoy her life. So maybe, in a way, she killed herself. If she couldnt live for herself, she would not live for anyone else.
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Research essay sample on Goddess Of Victory Physical Abuse Life
