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Story of an Hour


            We all look through the windows in our homes to view the current weather and nature. Most of us keep our windows clean and operational so we can enjoy fresh air, a cool breeze, the singing of birds or just the view of a storm. A window, nature and a passing storm were symbols used by Chopin in "The Story of an Hour." The view from Mrs. Mallard's window, of the changing weather and surrounding nature was used by Chopin, to show a reader the protagonist's changing internal outlook on her situation.
             The Story leads us to her room where she takes a seat in an armchair that we learn is "facing an open window." In a metaphor of symbolism, Mrs. Mallard begins to examine the changing weather outside leaving the reader a glimpse of her changing emotions and viewpoint inside. The transparency of window allows this incredible symbolic vision to unfold in front of the reader. The window is not only our view into her emotional heart but also her very own viewpoint of herself as a widow. .
             The symbolic use of weather in the story started with the unfortunate news of Mr. Mallard's death. The emotional constitution of Mrs. Mallard is described as a "storm of grief" that "spent itself." Chopin wrote, "There were patches of blue sky showing here and there through the clouds that had met and piled above the other in the west facing her window." The use of changing weather is a reflection of emotional changes Mrs. Mallard feels as she grasps and struggles for a different acceptable outlook on her life. Through the limited omniscient narrator we learn that she "was fixed away off yonder on one of those patches of blue sky." Mrs. Mallard is unsure of what the blue skies will bring her; however it becomes a force she can escape.
             During her solitude in the window Mrs. Mallard begins to pay close attention to the details surrounding her. She was able to see other things more clearly and hear sounds that she would normally dismiss.


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