Emotions and Conflicts in The Story of an Hour - Book Report/Review Example

The mood of the story is not the ordinary way in which the story of someone’s death is told; that is the tone of the story sways from sorrow to joy and back again to sorrow. A particular point of interest in the story is when Mrs. Mallard retires into her room and confides in nature as opposed to her sister (Chopin 40). I feel this shows us the conflict between human beings and the social stigmas that exist in society due to which even though Mrs. Millard felt plagued by her husband she still could not share her happiness over the much-anticipated freedom which she finally could see coming.

At that point, it is revealed to the reader that Mrs. Millard is actually happy about her husband’s death, which twists the perspective by which the reader perceives the story. Later in the story, Mrs. Millard’s sister tries to get her out of her room thinking that she will fall sick alone. At that point, Chopin makes use of dramatic irony because the fact that Mrs. Millard is happy is known to the reader but not to the character of Mrs. Millard’s sister (Prentice Hall 47). There has been extensive use of imagery in the story, particularly when Mrs.

Millard is sitting by the window and certain elements of nature are described: “But she felt it, creeping out of the sky, reaching toward her through the sounds, the scents, the color that filled the air” (Chopin 41). In these lines, Chopin makes use of imagery to imply the freedom which Mrs. Millard feels at the death of her husband, or just the news rather. Some critics believe that “The Story of an Hour” is the story of a woman’s self-assertion, instead of taking Mrs.

Millard’s predicament as an emotional one the critics take it to be one of egoism, which is a matter of perspective (Wang 108).Mrs. Mallard is facing a serious conflict as she is indulged in considering the loss of her husband as a loss indeed or some blessing in disguise. Mrs. Mallard gets into a conflict as she fights internally with her conscious will to have liberty and the conventional patriarchal environment around her that presses her to suppress her desire to be free spiritually or physically (Wang 111). Mrs. Mallard has a certain feeling of freedom when she finally recognizes that she has no oppressive figure in the house anymore to keep a check on her.

Her words expressed in the story ringing in her mind indicate that she always wanted to be free and lead her life her own way without any restrictions or boundaries. She feels pleasure that the loss of her husband has made her free from patriarchal boundaries as she says, “There would be no one to live for during those coming years; she would live for herself. There would be no powerful will bending hers in that blind persistence with which men and women believe they have a right to impose a private will upon a fellow-creature” (Chopin 41).

She is fully aware of her freedom and feels that now she will have her own will.Mrs. Mallard considers herself spiritually raised and victorious as when she gets out of the room, “There was a feverish triumph in her eyes, and she carried herself unwittingly like a goddess of Victory” (Chopin 41). She has a feeling of victory and also thinks that now she can have her own self like a goddess. Her emotions and feeling of conflict through which, she passes are described in an elaborative manner in the story.

“The Story of an Hour” is an impactful story because the end is unexpected and goes to an extreme (death of Mrs. Millard) to highlight the fact that our behavior with someone can be a cause of such grief to someone that it might take away their life. It is the sort of short story that leaves a lot of food for thought for the reader. Mrs. Mallard being spiritually raised regards herself as a goddess who is victorious and can enjoy her liberty and freedom without any hurdle. The news of her husband’s death is a sort of blissful moment for her but she goes through a troublesome situation because she regards herself bound in terms of patriarchal society but when she finally realizes that her patriarch is no more present, she gets so much happy that she dies because of happiness.

Her extreme happiness is the reason for her death.