The Story of An Hour

Author's Note: In this essay, I had to describe three symbols that have really pulled this story together. I thought that it was somewhat of a challenge to choose the correct symbols because there were so many.

In an instant, what seems like everything you have, gets taken away. Your husband dies and nobody wants to break it to you. Your sadness inside is unbearable; people are the enemy. You think it would just be better if you were dead. Would it? This is how the main character, Mrs. Mallard's life goes about. The reason that this story has meaning, and it makes sense, is because there are symbols that pull it together. The three symbols I found were an arm chair, spring weather outside, and the stair case.

When you're sad, you want something to comfort you. In this story, I think that the armchair is a symbol, because when she is sad it accepts her. Because she no longer has her husband to comfort her, she needs something to turn to where she can feel better. "There stood, facing the open window, a comfortable, roomy armchair. Into this she sank, pressed down by a physical exhaustion that haunted her body and seemed to reach into her soul." The chair stands as a cocoon to protect her.

Everyone has different things that make their lives positive just by taking a look at something. Whether it is seeing a child giggle, or looking outside to see the weather changing. In this case, Mrs. Mallard looked outside. "The tops of trees that were all aquiver with the new spring life. The delicious breath of rain was in the air." She sensed that it was a new life for her. The new life outside signified to her that there was a possibility for change in her life. Just because one bad thing had happened, didn't mean that everything had to come tumbling down with it. 

Figuratively speaking, I think the stairs are a symbol, because though it was a difficult 'barrier' to cross, they did it, together. "She clasped her sister's waist, and together they descended the stairs." It is almost as if it is an emotional barrier as well as a mental one, too. It is showing that they are stepping over the past and everything will be somewhat normal when they decide to forget it was ever there. 

              

An arm chair, spring weather, and a stair case made up the basis of a story, and did it in a very precise, detailed way. Certain objects, when used in the correct sense, can make up and mean a whirlwind of things. They all stand for something important in the story, but specific objects can be more difficult to pick out knowing that it actually indicates that something is a big key element to the story itself.