Analysis of Kate Chopins Storm - Essay Example

Kate Chopin’s Storm Although there is little room in a short story such as Kate Chopin’s “The Storm” for the full development of several individuals, significant insights regarding the multiple emotions of characters can often become very well developed by the careful use of phrase or action. With the judicious application of only very meaningful phrases and language, the author is able to relate a specific event while providing the reader with a complex understanding of two individual characters with another three introduced. Told from the perspective of an uninvolved observer, perhaps the spirit of the storm itself, it is possible for the reader to gain an understanding of how the outer world is reflecting the inner conflicts of the characters. Thanks to the emotionally unattached omniscient narration of the story, the plot is able to follow a particular period of time in the lives of five different characters despite the fact that they are all in different places at the time. By examining plot, narrative and the main character Calixta, around whom all the action seems to center, one can gain an appreciation for the depth of the story despite its short length. The story begins at a nearby grocery store where Bibi and Bobinot are purchasing a few things to take back home to Calixta, mother and wife to the above mentioned. They are walking out of the store just as the storm arrives, deciding to wait it out on the front porch of the store rather than attempting to make it all the way home. Within this brief scene, the reader is able to catch a glimpse of the trusting nature of the little boy for his father and establish the relationships that exist between the three people. At the same time, it can be seen that the father, Bobinot, is slightly insecure in his relationship with his wife, taking the time to make a special purchase of something she likes as a means of trying to please her, knowing that he will be walking home through mud and arriving later than planned, possibly upsetting her. This concept is reinforced in the third segment of the story when Bobinot and Bibi return home, full of mud, and sheepishly enter the house after the rain. Their unusually warm reception is explained by the events of the second segment. The major part of the story occurs in the second segment in which the activities of Calixta and one of her neighbors, caught out when the storm arrived, are described in full detail. As it is revealed through the dialogue and the action described, Calixto once had a relationship with the man Alcee who must seek shelter from the storm within her otherwise empty home. This earlier relationship is predominantly shown through Alcee’s emotions and impressions as they center upon Calixto. The first accidental physical contact dredges up these memories and the reasons why the two of them are not married now. “In Assumption he had kissed her and kissed and kissed her; until his sense would well nigh fail, and to save her he would resort to a desperate flight. If she was not an immaculate dove in those days, she was still inviolate; a passionate creature whose very defenselessness had made her defense, against which his honor forbade him to prevail” (Chopin, 1898). This suggests that Alcee fled before he and Calixta could consummate their love affair and satisfy old desires. It is presumably for this reason that Calixta was less than fully satisfied with her marriage, always wondering if her first love would have been better. While the storm rages outside, threatening to wash away the world, Calixta and Alcee finally succumb to their passions. For each, it is expressed in terms of a passion never before felt and probably never to be felt again, but reveling in the experience. “Her firm elastic flesh that was knowing for the first time its birthright, was like a creamy lily that the sun invites to contribute its breath and perfume to the undying life of the world. The generous abundance of her passion, without guile or trickery, was like a white flame which penetrated and found response in depths of his own sensuous nature that had never yet been reached” (Chopin, 1898). Comparisons can be made between the blinding white flash of the lightening outside and the blinding whiteness of Calixta in this moment of passionate embrace. The comparison between her inner spirit and the outer environment are not to be ignored, not only as they affect her life, but also as they have bearing upon the lives of so many others. As Calixta and Alcee finish their love-making, the storm outside passes away, thundering in the distance for other people to fear and leaving Calixta’s world fresh and new. In the final segments of the story, the results of this ‘storm’ are revealed. Bobinot and Bibi come home, full of mud from the roads and concerned that they will upset Calixta, who is known as a fastidious housekeeper. They are surprised by the warm welcome they receive and spend a happy and exuberant evening around the dinner table. Alcee, in the meantime, writes a loving letter to his wife that she might stay on vacation for a while with the children if she wishes, although he misses her terribly. The final segment reveals how Clarisse, Alcee’s wife, is just as happy to forego her husband’s passionate attentions for a while and happily remains on her vacation. Through the comparison to the other characters, Chopin demonstrates how not all women are made to live in the tame and domesticated passionless environment that was created for them. While Clarisse was “more than willing to forego” the conjugal attentions of her husband for a while, Calixta’s husband is seen to patiently and passively wait out the storms of his wife’s passion. Calixta, meanwhile, is seen to take out her passions as well as she may through her domestic responsibilities. As the storm approaches, she doesn’t even notice the danger, busily sewing at her desk to the point where sweat begins to drip from her brow. The only reason she notices the storm at all is because the sky becomes dark. Although she is busy with sewing on this particular day, she has also been busy with a variety of other necessary activities, having Bobinot’s Sunday clothes hanging out to dry along with Bibi’s jacket and busily preparing supper by the time the boys come home. She is also referred to as “an over-scrupulous housewife” and fastidiously checks both Bobinot and Bibi to be sure they are safe, whole and dry before she can enjoy the shrimp her husband brought her as a peace offering. Through such an analysis, it can be seen how plot, narration and characterization all work together to present a complicated individual and an intense look at the social customs of a given time within a seemingly simple story line. While the story only comprises the short space of a passing storm, the implications of the storm, and which storm is the storm of the title remain concepts to be discussed in great detail, not only for the characters involved, but for those reading the story, those living in the time of authorship and those experiencing it from the perspective of a century in the future. Works Cited Chopin, Kate. “The Storm.” 1898. January 18, 2008 Read More