The Stories by Kate Chopin - Essay Example

The Stories by Kate Chopin The following analysis is based upon two stories written by Kate Chopin. Ms Chopin was a nineteenth century writer, whose work shot to fame, sadly, after her death. Kate Chopin, known best known for her short stories covered all genres for both genders of all ages. However, she was later criticized for being a feminist who wrote stories that indirectly contributed and encouraged the empowerment of women. The two short stories under the spotlight of critical analysis are: “Desiree’s baby” and “The story of an hour”. Both these stories have tragic, heart breaking endings and they come across with a vital teaching. In the stories, the protagonists have made decisions that have made the readers regret the (character’s) decision. What led them to such choices and why was it wrong for them is discussed in great detail below. The story “Desiree’s Baby” revolves around a young adopted girl called Desiree. She lives with her foster parents; the Valmonde’s until she gets married to a man, Armand Aubigny, who loves her enough to sideline the anonymity of her origin. Soon after, the couple is blessed with a baby boy and Desiree is extremely satisfied with her life. She claims that Armand had changed for the better after marriage and after his son was born, he seldom gets angry and does not mistreat his Negro servants like before. However, after a few months, the horrifying truth dawns upon Desiree as her child greatly looked like the servants of the house in matters of color. This finding answers her questions to Armand’s cold and indifferent attitude. Armand claimed that Desiree was not white and that she was responsible for the way their child was. Disappointed and struck by grief, Desiree leaves her husband and disappears with her child. In the end of the story, Armand finds out in a letter written by his mother to his father thanking God that her son doesn’t know that his mother “belongs to the race that is cursed with the brand of slavery.” The other story is about a young woman, Louise Mallard, whose husband, Brently Mallard, dies in a train accident. She is informed about his death by her sister Josephine, who in turn was informed by Mr Mallard’s friend Richards. After knowing that she is a widow, she locks herself in the room and waits for the grief to take over her. While sitting in the chair, looking out the window, Louise starts to think about what awaits in her life. While assessing the tough, lonely, journey ahead, she instead finds out that she has finally been freed. Even though she loved her husband, she was now independent and the shackles of being under constant check were gone. She accepts this new thought of freedom and it fills her inner self with newly found joy. When she goes downstairs with her sister, she finds her husband standing there unscathed, unaware of the train accident that took place. Mrs. Mallard dies and the doctors claim that she died out of happiness. Both stories reflect on some serious misunderstandings and highly inappropriate decisions that caused regret in the end. In the “Desiree’s Baby”, we notice that Armand’s character lacks strength and wisdom. He is deluded with one-minded ferocity and he fails to weigh his decisions before implementing them. When he proposed to Desiree, Mr. Valmonde made it very clear that Armand should think about how nobody knows the origin of Desiree, on the account of her being adopted. Instead, Armand got carried away with how much he loved her and it did not matter whether she had a surname or not, hence we see that being extremely emotional is a trait of Armand’s character. On the other hand, in the story of one hour, we see that Louise Mallard is faced by sudden tragic news of the demise of her husband. In the given scenario, a person is most likely to lose rational train of thought and does or thinks absurd stuff. As surprising as her conclusions were to finding independence and freedom, Louise’s character can be given the benefit of the doubt, because one does not know whether and if these absurd conclusions were conjured in her mind due to the sudden grief. Armand’s character can be said to be arrogant and controversial. His ideas of looking down on his colored servants depict a very narrow minded picture of his personality. His stubborn personality is clearly proven by the fact that his fatherhood failed to soften his heart for the newborn child. Armand’s long claimed love for his wife disappears into thin air as soon as he realizes that she is not white and all so suddenly, Desiree’s origin comes into question and becomes the focal point. His emotional side caused him to conclude that his wife was of black origin, which in turn had caused his son to take the same genes. Armand failed to prove himself as a lover, when he hands down asked his wife to leave on the pity account of her being colored. Mrs Mallard, on the other hand, easily believed in the knowledge of what was passed on to her. She did not inquire, question or confirm if the news was true or not. Being a wife, she must have known if her husband was travelling on a train or a plane, but then again, all these facts have been kept hidden and the reader is almost in the dark. One cannot interpret what Mrs Mallard knew or did not know. Her actions were simple and typical: she heard about her husband’s passing away and she secluded herself from everybody and locked herself in the room. But we can also give Louise Mallard a thumbs up for thinking about the positive aspects of being a widower, even though it translates to the reader in a rather insensitive manner, we still cannot doubt the fact, that instead of wailing and crying, she chose to look at the brighter side, unlike Armand’s character. What Armand did, cannot be justified in any way, his ways were immoral, unethical and irrational. His judgment was clouded by his arrogance and he was, in harsh terms, a racist. He failed to provide his wife and son protection and he certainly got punished for it in the end, when he found out that it was him, who had the roots of “slaves” and not his innocent wife, who by that time had fled in sorrow. There is no way that Armand’s character can be sympathized with, or felt sorry for. Louise Mallard, on the other hand chose the wrong approach by not confirming the death of her husband, but one can definitely sympathize with the way things ended for her. She was not at any fault of her own, and had the shadow of doubt rooting for her, but nevertheless, she met with her harsh fate. Both the characters were blinded by certain aspects in their own respective situations and they failed to act rationally and accordingly, hence they were awarded and dealt with the harshest of ends. Armand and Louise both behaved rather childishly and their ways can be viewed critically by many, but they can be used to learn for the betterment. Never jump to conclusions or make accusations without being thorough; because as portrayed in the short stories, a small mistake can have a very heavy price to pay; the love of your life and sometimes your own life as well. Works Cited "story of an hour." PBS. PBS, n.d. Web. 4 Nov. 2013. "Desiree baby." PBS. PBS, n.d. Web. 4 Nov. 2013. Read More