1      In today's world there is nobody who can honestly say that they have absolutely no problems or worries in their life. Everyone has something to deal with and things to get over in their life--that's why it's called life. As long as you're alive, you will constantly have to battle the burdens of life that all people encounter. Some are destroyed by the harships and others overcome them. In Kate Chopin's "The Story of an Hour" she gives a glimpse at the life of one woman who, for a brief time, felt she would have no more problems, but then is shocked in to death by realizing that her problems were not yet gone. The theme of the story is that you are never really free from the troubles of life until you are dead.

2      The conflicts in the story are ones that we all encounter and deal with until the day we die. In the story there is conflict between Louise (woman) and her husband (man). It said that sometimes she loved her husband, but often she did not. This says to me that they did not have a good relationship together, and and were probably constantly battling. Another conflict would be Mrs. Mallard's life vs. Mr. Mallard's death. Because of Mr. Mallard's suppossed death, Louise would now live her life happier and for herself. Then, when Mr. Mallard came home, Louise was faced with the conflict of choosing between the freedom she would have had or the repression she would now suffer, from her husband, for the rest of her life if she would stay alive. At the end she, in a way, chooses death over repression. The only true way for her to be free was to die.

3    The symbols in "The Story of an Hour" give a look at the good life and rebirth Louise would have had if Mr. Mallard would have actually been dead. The actual word mallard refer to a wild duck. The meaning of duck, other than the animal, is to avoid a blow. Mrs. Mallard was constantly ducking wildly from her husband's blows, whether mental or physical. The calm after her storm of grief was her realizing she was better off without her husband after her going through the initial shock of the whole ordeal. In paragraph five it refers to "the new spring life" and the rain that was in the air, signifying Louise's rebirth and growing now that Mr. Mallard was gone. "The notes of a distant song which someone was singing reached her faintly" represents good times and freedom that she used to know slowly coming back. The sparrows were twittering outside her window. Twittering means to carry on excitedly, which is what Louise was actually doing inside now that she was able to be free. At the end, the latchkey that Mr. Mallard uses to get in the front door symbolizes his neglect of her, and how it would still be if they continued together.

4     This story is very ironic in that everything that happens isn't the reality of the situation. Mrs. Mallard is crying after she finds out her husband is dead is ironic because she is actuallt releived and sort of happy. Now that Mr. Mallard was gone she hope that she would live a long life, which is obviouslly iron because she then dies (perhaps choosing to die) when she finds out he is not dead. The last sentence of the story says that she died "of joy that kills." In reality she died of
sadness that kills--the sadness she saw that she would have endured had she lived the rest of her life with Mr. Mallard.

5      With the problems of life come decisions. Deciding what is best or what has to be done in a situation is sometimes hard. In "The Story of an Hour" Louise sees that with her life comes problems. She is left with the decision of living with all her problems or dying and leaving them all behind. In our lives it usually isn't that drastic, but it makes the point that you are always going to have hardships in your life. You just need to get over each one as it comes and move on with the things you want to do. You will never be free of cares until the day you die. The way you deal with the problems in your life will determine the quality of your life.