The Story of an Hour - Essay Example

He later informed -Josephine- Mrs. Mallard’s sister. She is now tasked with the duty to inform her ailing sister that her beloved husband passed away in the ill-fated accident. This must have been a herculean task since it was not easy to break such news to her sister and she did not know how to do it without causing more harm than the situation had already presented. Thousands of thoughts must have been crisscrossing Josephine’s mind. She must have wondered how her sister will take the news, the effect the news would have on her heart.

She even wondered what if she broke the news and her sister could not take it that she also dies. The kind of dilemma that Josephine went through was not easy but also required her to be strong for the sake of her sister. Her falling into a grieving mood was not an option because she was to be her sister’s pillar during such trying times. When Josephine finally breaks the news to Mrs. Mallard, she is stricken by grief and she sobs at her sisters’ arm. She is greatly affected by the loss of her husband.

When she could not take it anymore, she went into her room and locked herself. Mary Chopin explains the extent of the grief when she says “She sat with her head thrown back upon the cushion of the chair, quite motionless, except when a sob came up into her throat and shook her, as a child who has cried itself to sleep continues to sob in its dreams” (The Story of an Hour, 476). The writing clearly depicts the extent of the grief. Locking herself in her and shutting everyone else out shows how at the moment she saw her world ending due to the loss of her husband.

She was still young and yet at this tender age suffers such a great blow. This seclusion must have worried the sister as well. As much as she wanted to give, her space to grieve she also wanted to be by her side and comfort her. This worried Josephine that she went and knocked at the door of Mrs. Mallard’s room