In Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour” the character is not particularly relevant to the overall effect of the story compared to Ambrose Bierce’s “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge”. In the first sentence we were informed about Louise Mallard, a wife with heart problem whose husband is reportedly killed in a train accident. With that said, the description of the character Louise is limited. However, as the story is told we get to know more of the character through her emotions. The author is able to deeply engage the reader into the tragedy Louise is experiencing and to sympathize with the character’s loss. When her sister, Josephine, breaks the news to Louise, she cries dramatically rather than feeling numb, which demonstrates the significance of her husband. Instantly, we learn that this a tragical event for Louise and we try to understand her pain of suddenly losing her husband. At this point, the story becomes intense because we know of Louise’s heart problem; however, we do not know if she will be able to handle the situation. As the story develops, her emotions seem to be quite different and unexpected from what other women would feel if their husbands died. “But she saw beyond that bitter moment a long procession of years to come that would belong to her absolutely. And she opened and spread her arms out to them in welcome.” From this quote, we can notice that rather than grief, Louise feels the joy of freedom. As mentioned in the story “yet she loved him - sometimes. Often she had not.” This quotation highlights there was a problem in Louise’s marriage. Now, there is doubt weather she actually has a “heart problem” or her heart problem is because of love. It makes the reader comprehend why she is feeling a sense of relief over her husband’s death. Even though it does not explain why she did not love him, it shows us that somehow she was an unhappy wife. After getting to know the character through her emotions, the reader is pleasantly relieved.
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In fact, the protagonist, Peyton Farquar, is described in order to be relevant to the overall effect of the story, unlike Chopin’s Louise Mallard. In the first section of the story we learn that a man was going to be hung by the Union army for trying to destroy the railroad bridge at Owl Creek. He is described as a thirty-five year-old man with large dark grey eyes, a pointed beard, a straight nose, a firm mouth and with dark hair combed straight back. He was the son of a privileged dandy man and he is described as a confederacy supporter, but to his disadvantage he was not well prepared to for the rigors faced among the front lines of the Civil War. The circumstances that “somehow” prevented Farquhar from taking his service in the Confederate army, made him desperate to contribute. Nevertheless, “no service was too humble for him to preform in aid of the South, no adventure to perilous to …show more content…
So, Farquhar set off and he was captured by the Federal Army. Before Farquhar was hung, his mind takes him through a heroic escape. Ambrose well describes the escape in a dream-like style. He demonstrates the mind’s ability to escape reality, and to escape the inevitable. Farquhar imagined his escape in the split seconds before his death. Through the illusion of Peyton Farquhar we are shown the natural human desire to become
In fact, the protagonist, Peyton Farquar, is described in order to be relevant to the overall effect of the story, unlike Chopin’s Louise Mallard. In the first section of the story we learn that a man was going to be hung by the Union army for trying to destroy the railroad bridge at Owl Creek. He is described as a thirty-five year-old man with large dark grey eyes, a pointed beard, a straight nose, a firm mouth and with dark hair combed straight back. He was the son of a privileged dandy man and he is described as a confederacy supporter, but to his disadvantage he was not well prepared to for the rigors faced among the front lines of the Civil War. The circumstances that “somehow” prevented Farquhar from taking his service in the Confederate army, made him desperate to contribute. Nevertheless, “no service was too humble for him to preform in aid of the South, no adventure to perilous to …show more content…
So, Farquhar set off and he was captured by the Federal Army. Before Farquhar was hung, his mind takes him through a heroic escape. Ambrose well describes the escape in a dream-like style. He demonstrates the mind’s ability to escape reality, and to escape the inevitable. Farquhar imagined his escape in the split seconds before his death. Through the illusion of Peyton Farquhar we are shown the natural human desire to become