from "The Awakening" and "The Story of an Hour" - Kate Chopin

from "The Awakening" is a very small excerpt from a very controversial novel written by Kate Chopin. The excerpt we read is about a lady, Mrs. Pontellier, and her sitting in an arm chair outside crying. We do not find out why she is crying, we just know that it is very sad; "She was holding the back of her chair with one hand; her loose sleeve had slipped almost to the shoulder of her uplifted arm. Turning, she thrust her face, steaming and wet, into the bend of her arm, and she went on crying there, not caring any longer to dry her face, her eyes, her arms" (Chopin, "from The Awakening." 491). This short excerpt relates to realism by the amount of sadness in it. "Realism is the attempt to depict life as it actually exists, not as the author wants it to be in the present or the future, or imagines it was in the past" (Werlock). This is what Chopin does in describing the sadness of Mrs. Pontellier. She tells of the outside world and what it is doing to Mrs. Pontellier. The mosquitos are biting her and she takes no notice. She is crying because she wants to. These are all details that add effect to the story to depict life as it actually is.

This reflects human nature and psychology because of the way she cries. There really is not reason to why she cries, even she does not know why she is crying. But their are times in people's lives where they just break down and cry. It is in our nature to feel a rush of emotion and break down. There is some use of figurative language in this work; "filled her whole being with a vague anguish. It was like a shadow, like a mist passing across her soul's summer day" (Chopin, "from The Awakening." 491). This is just saying this emotion she felt swept over her and swallowed her up.

"The Story of an Hour" is another piece written by Kate Chopin. It is once again a sad story of how this lady gets swallowed by an emotion; only this time, there is a reason. Mrs. Mallard, the story's subject cries because she realizes that her love is dead. He will no longer love her again. He was so nice to her but now he is gone. "There would be no one to live for her during those coming years; she would live for herself" (Chopin, "The Story" 555). This story also relates to realism by the sadness within it. There is so much sadness and it seems as if nothing is left out. This is the author, Kate Chopin, attempting to depict life as it actually exists (Werlock), which is the exact definition of realism. This work reflects human nature and psychology because of the ways she acts out of the loss of somebody she loves. It is in the nature of humans to be sad when someone we know and love dies. It is an act of realization. We realize we will never see that person again until we are passed away. It just brings sadness to people's lives.




Chopin, Kate. "from The Awakening." Glencoe Literature. Comp. Jeffrey Wilhelm. American Literature ed. Columbus; McGraw-Hill, 2010. 491. Print.



Chopin, Kate. "The Story of an Hour." Glencoe Literature. Comp. Jeffrey Wilhelm. American Literature ed. Columbus; McGraw-Hill, 2010. 554-555. Print.



Werlock, Abby H. P. "realism." The Facts On File Companion to the American Short Story, Second Edition. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2009. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. Feb 13, 2011.