The Story of an Hour - Assignment Example

“The Story of an Hour” is a short read which elucidates the story of the presumed death of Mrs Mallard’s husband. The setting takes place in a different time much similar to when the story was written which was in 1894. The place of women in society during those times was apparent and pertains to submission over male domination although this is not particularly expanded on with the plot. In fact, there is not one conversation or interaction between husband and wife that would tend to illustrate whether there is an actual rift between them and what particular matters. But the reaction on Mrs Mallard upon her husband’s death is enough proof to determine that what goes on between them cannot be characterized by pure love or devotion to each other.

Richards and her sister Josephine took great lengths to be gentle in how they break the bad news to her. Both of them were reluctant and calculating in telling her of the tragedy that ended Brently Mallard’s life. “When the storm of grief had spent itself she went away to her room alone. She would have no one follow her” (Chopin, par. 3). Her reaction was not analogous to other women before her in the same position. After the immediate show of grief, her next move was to go swiftly to her room and contemplate what the event essentially meant and how the same could change her life. She looked at it as a new beginning and an escape from a dreadful married life. The irony of course was how fast things happen and how lives could change and end in an hour. The overwhelming emotions that were because of her husband’s death introduced to her the prospect of a new which is equivalent to nothing less than freedom. The same freedom she shouted from her heart and enveloped her whole being eventually led to her own death.

The plot of “The Lottery” is an intriguing narrative of an old village and its practice which captivates the reader and keeps them wondering on what all the activity going on is all about. Shirley Jackson was very prolific in her description of the village and the people that comprise it. The children who are playing all around and their banter including the atmosphere as it was time just after school ended and their vacation has just started. The village is portrayed as common and nothing out of the ordinary and the same goes for the village folks. The title of the short story is very curious and evokes an inquisitive outlook prior to completing the conclusion. The children's occupation of collecting stones suggests the perception that this activity is significant to the story.  “Bobby Martin had already stuffed his pockets full of stones, and the other boys soon followed his example, selecting the smoothest and roundest stones” (Jackson, par.2).

The trepidation among the mature members of the family is palpable and recurring throughout the story. The women are particularly tensed and their reaction to the result of the lottery is one of relief and grief concurrently. The whole exercise is a matter of tradition and the ceremony, although has varied over the years, remains to be a religious ritual conducted by the villagers and the participation of each family is very important. This piece actually caused its author numerous reactions when it was first published in the New Yorker. Kosenko remarks that “It serves to reinforce the village's hierarchical social order by instilling the villages with an unconscious fear that if they resist this order they might be selected in the next lottery” (par. 3). Mrs. Hutchinson’s protest was never heeded and the reader is placed on the verge of understanding what the whole point of it all is. At the end of the story we see the purpose of the stones carefully picked and chosen by the others in the beginning. The conclusion explains all and the reader is left dumbfounded by its brutal and bewildering climax.