Armour 1 Max Armour English 10 Honors Brumfield Period 4 20 February 2010 Short Story Analysis Kate Chopin, an American

short story writer, poet, and novelist, greatly contributed to the world of literature during her lifetime (1851-1904). Born as Catherine O Flaherty in St. Louis, Chopin was of Creole background (meaning a white person descended from early French or Spanish settlers). Her family held slaves, which she incorporated into many of her writings. She was bilingual, speaking both English and French. The Awakening is considered her best work, and other popular stories include Desirees Baby and The Story of an Hour. She much admired Guy de Maupassant writing style which can be detected in many of her works (Charters and Charters 595). Majority of her works revolve around women (major theme). This includes emotions in their relationships with men, women against conformity, womens search for identity, motherhood, pregnancy, and childbirth. Another major theme is racism, which is present throughout her works, largely in Desirees Baby. Even minor characteristics such as clothing can add significance to the story in its entirety. Themes can be identified by her unique literary techniques (parallel sentences and imagery). Chopin also put more emphasis on the individual characters rather than the plot (Charters and Charters 115) Chopin wrote Desirees Baby November 24th, 1892. This short story takes place in postantebellum (post Civil War) Louisiana. It is one of the few stories set before the Civil War. The title revolves around the story. It is first narrated by Desirees mother, and then, Desiree.

Armour 2 The story is about Desiree, a woman who was found on the side of a road and adopted by the Monsieur and Madame Valmonde, rich Creoles. As she matures, she falls in love with Armand Aubigny, a neighboring plantation owner. They bear a child which is of African descent. Armand impulsively assumes it is Desiree who is part Black, and demands her to leave his presence. She then walks with the child into a bayou, and is never seen again. As Armand is burning all of her and the childs possessions, he encounters a letter from his mother to his father revealing he is the one who is African (Charters and Charters 115-119). Desiree can be viewed as the protagonist because she is the only one that reacts calmly with her child being Black; while Armand the antagonist because he is outraged and disowns Desiree. The major conflict is triggered by the ethnicity of the child, and is never resolved. The entire story spans over the life of Desiree in chronological order (if we choose to believe she died). This story is similar and usually compared with Maupassant The Story of A Farm Girl. It is hard to categorize this story because it is very short, but it can fall under realism and naturalism. Themes include slavery and identity. This is a perfect example of a surprise ending; our first thought while reading is that Desiree is the one of African descent because her background is unknown (her background is never revealed in the story). Another element is foreshadowing. In paragraph six, it states Armands mother was French, and married to an easy-going and indulgent man in Paris where Armand was born and raised. An interracial marriage could have been possible during this time period as well because slavery was absent in France. Armand might have known he was of African descent because he is of mixed race (American and French), and it may not have been the first time he saw the letter revealing his background. Also, the baby was never given a formal name, possibly meaning the baby will not be present in the story for very long. The story is filled with irony. When Armand destroys

Armour 3 Desirees life, he is also destroying his because he has lost his child, his wife, and his reputation. Major symbolism includes Desiree as portraying lightness and Armand darkness. Desiree is never showed in a negative way and is open to her son being of mixed race. Armand is very impulsive and volatile. One aspect Chopin is attempting to address is how we should not be so impulsive when making decisions. Chopin emphasizes characterization, and perfectly depicts all of the characters into play Chopins The Story of an Hour was written April 19th, 1894. It was originally called The Dream of an Hour, yet there is no clear reason for this change. It is set in the home of Louise Mallard in the late 19th century. The title refers to how long the action of the story takes, is in chronological order, and is narrated by Louises point of view. Critic Daniel Deneau views it as Surely [her] best-known piece of short fiction. The story describes a woman, Louise Mallard, who is told by her sister, that her husband, Brently, has died because of a railroad disaster. She feels a certain freedom that she has been uplifted and relieved of the burden of her husband who she sometimes loved. She continually whispers free! Body and soul free! As she goes down the stairs to the doorway, her husband enters, alive and unharmed. He had been far from where the accident had occurred. Louise immediately dies of heart disease; of joy that kills. Louise is the protagonist; while there is an absence of an antagonist (some view the antagonist as her husband). We can see Louise develop and we can relate to her feelings as she develops and the story progresses. There is little interaction between characters, more emphasis on characterization (Chopins specialty). Compared to Desirees Baby which was an external conflict, this struggle and conflict is internal (inside Louise). The conflict is never resolved and is very unclear, as in Richard Connells The Most Dangerous Game. Chopins writing style can

Armour 4 be viewed as a form of foreshadowing, because of her use of surprise endings which she adopted from Maupassant. This can be realistic to a certain extent. The metaphor died of a broken heart rarely, if ever, occurs. However, mistaken deaths of a loved one can lead to depression, which lead to other means of death. Themes include the need for freedom, and what it feels like to be a woman. Symbolism includes the title, which represents how long Louise was free, the springtime shows her new, happy life awaiting her, and her heart condition that was stated in the first paragraph. Examples of figurative language include a song which someone was singing (alliteration), storm of grief (metaphor), joy that kills (paradox), and breath of rain (metaphor). A possible moral is that you should not believe everything you hear. Chopins cultural background and experiences throughout her life have had a great effect on her writings. She is considered to many one of the greatest American short story writer in the history of the United States.

Armour 5 Works Cited Charters, Ann, and Samuel Charters. Literature and Its Writers. 4th. Bedford/St. Martins, 2006. Print

Miner, Madonne M. "Dsire's Baby by Kate Chopin, 1892." Reference Guide to Short Fiction. Ed. Thomas Riggs. 2nd ed. Detroit: St. James Press, 1999. 805-806. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Sun. 21 Feb. 2010 http://find.galegroup.com/gps/infomark.do? &contentSet=EBKS&type=retrieve&tabID=T001&prodId=IPS&docId=CX3408300468&source =gale&srcprod=EB00&userGroupName=cchs_main&version=1.0

Papke, Mary E. "Kate Chopin's Social Fiction." EXPLORING Short Stories. Online ed. Detroit: Gale, 2003. Student Resource Center - Gold. Sun. 21 Feb. 2010 http://find.galegroup.com/gps/infomark.do? &contentSet=GSRC&type=retrieve&tabID=T001&prodId=IPS&docId=EJ2112200211&source =gale&srcprod=SRCG&userGroupName=cchs_main&version=1.0

Wolff, Cynthia Griffin. "Kate Chopin and the fiction of limits: 'Desiree's Baby'." The Southern Literary Journal 10.2 (1978): 123+. Student Resource Center - Gold. Sun. 21 Feb. 2010 http://find.galegroup.com/gps/infomark.do?&contentSet=IACDocuments&type=retrieve&tabID=T002&prodId=IPS&docId=A131896931&source=gale&srcp rod=SRCG&userGroupName=cchs_main&version=1.0 "Chopin, Katherine (1851-1904)." DISCovering Authors. Online ed. Detroit: Gale, 2003. Student Resource Center - Gold. Sun. 21 Feb. 2010

Armour 6 http://find.galegroup.com/gps/infomark.do? &contentSet=GSRC&type=retrieve&tabID=T001&prodId=IPS&docId=EJ2101100235&source =gale&srcprod=SRCG&userGroupName=cchs_main&version=1.0

"Kate Chopin." Encyclopdia Britannica. 2010. Encyclopdia Britannica Online. 21 Feb. 2010 http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/114375/Kate-Chopin

"The Kate Chopin International Society."KateChopin.org. Web. 21 Feb 2010 <katechopin.org >