Story of an Hour

425 Words2 Pages
Leslie Knox Ms. Baldwin English 3/ Period 6 2 March 2013 The Story of an Hour Essay In the story, The Story of an Hour, by Kate Chopin, there is a woman with a heart condition that receives bad news. She deals with thenews in a different way than most people would. At first she js sad, but then she realizes she is happy. At the end of the storythere is a major twist. The woman, Mrs. Mallard, is told by her sister Josephine and her husbands friend Richards, that her husband Brently Mallard has been killed in a railroad accodent at work. Her husbands friend was the one "in the newspaper office when intelligence of the railroad disaster was received, with Brently Mallard's name leading the list of killed." Her sister told her, "in broken sentences; veiled hints that revealed in half concealing." They tried to slowly tell her because of her heart condition. At first, Mrs. Mallard "wept at once, wigh sudden, wild abandonment, in ber sister's arms." Once the greif dissapeared she went to her room and sat in tbe armchair facing an open window. It was then that a "suspension of intellegent thought" came to her mind. She started to realize that she is happy that her husband has died. "She said it over and over under her breath 'free, free, free!" She is finally free from tne man who abused her. She knew she would greive again, but that after the greif and sadness that the "years to come would belong to her absolutely." Mrs. Mallard was happy her husband died, because she can choose how she spends her time and her life and doesnt have to deal with the abuse. When her sister got her to come out of the room and walk down the stairs the story twists. Mrs. Mallards husband walks in the front door. Mr. Mallard "had been far from the scene of the accident," he didnt even know there was one. When Mrs. Mallard saw her husband she had a heart attack. She died from her heart disease

More about Story of an Hour

Open Document