Knowing Mrs Mallard example essay topic

Phil Case ley A Comparison of Two Short Stories by Kate Chopin- "The Story of an Hour" and "The Blindman" I have been studying two short stories written by Kate Chopin - "The Story of an Hour" and "The Blindman". Kate Chopin wrote both stories in the late 19th Century at a time of great technological development and industrialisation, this caused a rift between the rich and the poor. Both stories are based on repression, for example; The "Blindman" is discriminated against due to class repression as he is discriminated against for being blind. "the Story of an hour", however, is based on gender repression- Mrs Mallard's husband controls her life and when she finds out that her husband is dead she experiences freedom. "The Story of an Hour" is about a lady called Mrs Mallard, she is told her husband is dead from a tragic train accident. At first she is shocked, but soon she rediscovers freedom which she has never experienced in married life due to the patriarchal society.

Mrs Mallard is happier than she has been for a long time. However, Mrs Mallard's husband returns home and claims to have known nothing about the train accident. She is so upset that her troubled heart gives up on her and Mrs Mallard dies, apparently of a "Joy that Kills". In the first paragraph of "The Story of an Hour" the reader is addressed straight away of the situation. "Knowing Mrs Mallard was inflicted with heart trouble, great care was taken to break to her as gently as possible the news of her husbands death". The death of Mrs Mallard's husband is confirmed to the reader as Mr Mallards friend is in the newspaper office when the news was recieved.

The reaction of Mrs Mallard to her her husbands death is rather unusual. Mrs Mallard seems to be more relieved than devastated. "She wept at once". This is abnormal compared to how most women would normally react. It is very unusual for someone to cry instantly like Mrs Mallard did, as most would not accept the news for perhaps a day or two.

The reader is reminded of Mrs Mallards odd emotions by "When the storm of grief had spent itself". - This shows that she cried very much but she also stopped as fast as her grief started. This is a good metaphor because a storm comes and goes quickly, just like Mrs Mallard's grief. Mrs Mallard is then looking out her window and sees lots of things that represent new life, for example; "The distant song which someone was singing was singing reached her faintly". , "The countless sparrows were twittering in the eaves". and " There were patches of blue sky showing". - This is similar to the saying "Every cloud has a silver lining" as they are both saying that things will get better.

Also these quotes show Mrs Mallard's desire for a new life. Mrs Mallard is now starting to feel freedom for the first time in a long time. Mrs Mallard's husband has just died yet she looks out the window and sees things representing "new life". Surely no-one should be thinking of new life when one has just ended. Once again we are reminded of Mrs Mallard's heart trouble when she comes to terms with her husband's death. "Her bosom rose and fell tumultuously".

By often reminding the reader of Mrs Mallard's heart condition tension is built up and the reader is waiting for something to happen with her heart. Mrs Mallard did care for her husband and he cared for her. But he also made her feel repressed. "She knew she would weep again when she saw the kind tender hands folded in death". Mrs Mallard now knows she is the only person in her life and now can do whatever she wants as there is not anyone to stop her. She appreciates her freedom now and will not take it for granted.

"She opened and spread her arms out to them in welcome". This tells us that Mrs Mallard wants the freedom. Mrs Mallard wants to live for as long as she can now because she is now starting to enjoy life. "It was only yesterday she thought with a shudder that life might be long". This indicates her happiness of her freedom and seems excited for what tomorrow may bring. Whilst Mrs Mallard is walking down the stairs, her husband opens the door.

This comes as a big shock as the reader had been convinced he was dead. It is then explained that Mr Mallard had been far away from the accident. Josephine let out a cry of relief. Mrs Mallard did not. Mrs Mallard is dead.

The doctor said she died of a "Joy that kills". This is dramatic irony as the reader knows that Mrs Mallard died of shock and devastation that all dreams of freedom and new life had been shattered. "The Blindman" is about a blindman who has the same day every day- Trying to survive by selling pencils to the rich as he is very poor. The blindman is discriminated against as he is blind.

The society at this time is very discriminative. The blindman's feelings are not portrayed as the society does not care about poor or disabled people's feelings. "The Blindman " is about the blindman's struggle that he faces against society every day. He eventually causes an accident which he does not know about and carries on trying to sell pencils. The first paragraph in "The Blindman" describes his appearence to the eye. "His old hat and faded garments looked as if the rain had often beaten upon them".

This gives the reader the idea that the Blindman is very poor and homeless. The reader is given the impression that there is something wrong with the man as he was walking on the opposite side of the road to the shade, on a very hot day. This is soon confirmed. "He was blind and, moreover, he was stupid". This quote is not necessarily the view of the author, but the view of society as it was. The second paragraph tells the reader of how the Blindman tries to make a living.

"In the red box were lead pencils, which he was endeavouring to sell". This also tells us that he definately is poor because you can not get rich by selling a few pencils. "The Blindman was written at a time of great technological advancements. When things are first invented they often have more complex names which, in time become more simple names-For example; A Door Bell was called an "electric button" when "The Blindman" was written. Some house owners were away for the summer. "The Iron gates were locked-their owners away for the summer".

This tells the reader that the owners of the houses in this area are very wealthy as they can afford to go away for the summer. Also the "Iron gates" represent the barrier that society puts up against the Blindman. When someone finally answered the door to the Blindman, he is often turned down or the butler would not bother to disturb the owner, as the owner would be disgusted to see a Blindman at the door. "Nor could they be induced to disturb the mistress of the house about so small a thing". It may seem a small thing to the owner, but selling one pencil would feel like a huge thing to the Blindman. The reader later finds out where the Blindman gets his pencils from.

The Blindman is described to be very hungry as he does not have the money to buy food that is suffice to keep him walking. "Hunger with sharp fangs, was Knowing at his stomach". This is an effective metaphor as when a person is very hungry they can have stomach pains. The Blindman is very, very hot but will not take off his clothes because he has no others and could not get rid of them because he will need them to keep him warm at night when he sleeps rough. One lady sees the Blindman from her window and feels sympathetic towards the Blindman, and wishes he would cross over into the shade. The Blindman wanders further and some children are attracted to his box of pencils, the Blindman probably feels nervous and scared.

The Blindman is brave and stands up to them by shouting and calling them names. A policeman sees the scuffle and shook him by his collar. The policeman then realises he is blind and "Considerately refrained fron clubbing him". This is a very sarcastic remark because the policeman is not being considerate. The policeman should not have clubbed the Blindman even if his sight was perfect. This also shows that police at this time would normally beat someone if they caused trouble.

As the Blindman continues on his trail, he stutters into the street with "monster" electric cars. Kate Chopin describes the cars as monster because they were big and loud, also people did not like all these new inventions so by calling them "monster" she is portraying some of the society's views. As he makes his way across the street he causes an awful accident; "The something happened, something horrible happened". The reader is sure the Blindman has been run over at this point but then the reader is suprised when they find out it is an important wealthy man. The Blindman is unsure what is going on and just carries on with his aimless walking. The "Story of an Hour" and "The Blindman" are very different stories indeed.

The both are talking about different points and giving out different messages. "The Blindman" is much to do with the view of society towards the less fortunate and does not portray the Blindman thoughts and feelings. But in "The Story of an Hour" the whole story is focused on Mrs Mallard's thoughts and feelings after her husband's "death". The text is more complex and descriptive in "The Story of an Hour" compared to "The Blindman". Both stories involve accidents involving transport. In "The Story of an Hour" there is a train accident and in "The Blindman" there is a car crash.

This may be because these were new inventions and recieved mixed feelings towards them. Also there are deaths in both stories- There is a death in "The Blindman" and a the reader is lead to think there is a death in "The Story of an Hour". Towards the end of both stories there is a twist in the tale. In "The Blindman" the reader finds out the Blindman is not dead, a wealthy man is. In the " Story of an Hour" the reader is convinced Mr Mallard is dead but then he walks into his house at the end to the shock of everyone. In both stories the main characters are young but the reader is suprised when told both main characters are young.

In "The Blindman" the text tells how he is "feeble" and in "The story of an Hour" Mrs Mallard has a weak heart which is associated with older people. Both stories contain irony. Mrs Mallard is killed of "Joy that kills" and In "The Blindman" it is a important man who dies because of his wealth. I like both stories as they are both ironic with twists in the tales at the end. But I prefer the "Blindman" because I like the way it is a wealthy man that dies instead of the Blindman, as it almost gives a sense of justice towards the Blindman because he was having to put up with a lot from the other side of society. I liked the language in "The Blindman" such as when the accident has happened Kate Chopin builds up the tension by using alliteration and colons to speed it up which makes the story tense as I wanted to know who had been run over.

After reading both stories I realised how divided and patriarchal society was in the nineteenth century.