Final Project Essay: Therese Lafirme “at Fault”

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Literature 221 April 27, 2010 Final Project Essay: Therese Lafirme “At Fault” What is American spirit? Despite there being differences in the way people look or speak, they share traits and characteristics that could easily be agreed exemplify Americanism. The novel “At Fault” by Kate Chopin contains great examples of characters that exhibit the American spirit. Looking beyond the surface and the main plot Therese Lafirme is one of these characters who is uniquely American. In the novel Therese portrays and symbolizes what American spirit is all about and what it has become despite of her creole descent. The character shows a unique sense of women’s independence, a sense of entrepreneurship, a sense of motivation to succeed, and the freedom to express her love and emotions. In the following paragraphs, Therese’s American spirit will be explained through literary elements that are present throughout the novel like the setting, protagonist, and motivation. The American way of life in the south during the late nineteenth century cannot be explained any better than the setting that surrounds Therese Lafirme’s life. The setting takes place in the post-reconstruction America during the late nineteenth century in northwestern Louisiana, which is characterized as the old south. Therese lives on Place-du-Bois plantation which is located by the Cane River, near the town of Natchitoches by the Louisiana and Texas border. What follows is in excerpt from the novel which explains the setting of the old south landscape with a mixture of the modernization. “These hills extended in a long line of gradual descent far back to the wooded borders of Lac du Bois; and within the circuit which they formed on the one side, and the irregular half circle of a sluggish bayou on the other, lay the cultivated open ground of the plantation—rich in its exhaustless
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