An Analysis of Story of an Hour and Fourth of July stories

Both Story of an Hour and Fourth of July chronicle the difficulties that persisted in the nineteenth century. Chopin’s Story of an Hour depicts the role of women in a male-dominated society. She implies that the female gender was seen as inferior. Chopin vehemently chronicles women’s efforts to break away from oppressive social norms. Women felt marginalized, so they sought to fight for gender equality. Without a doubt, women have suffered in a world that does not regard them fairly. In her article, Lorde, like Chopin, emphasizes the importance of freedom for everyone. However, here, Lorde explains the necessity for race equality in the American racism nation. Historically, African Americans were also seen to be inferior, and they were discriminated on racial grounds.

In the essay, Fourth of July, Lorde who is an African American female explains that the family trip to Washington DC was a transition point in her life as she got exposed to racism. The whites and the blacks were treated differently in aspects of socialization, education, and economics. The importance placed on the white color, and diminishing of the black race resulted in extreme racism and prejudices towards the African Americans in the society (Lorde 2). She explains her reaction when she first encountered racism while on their trip to Washington and indicates how her parents choose to hide the problem from her. Racism in Fourth of July and discrimination of women in Story of an hour both evidence to have been critical factors that worked to undermine some people in the society.

In the male-dominated, the world, the role of a woman was not considered to be significant, and due to this, the feminist criticism comes into the place looking into the political, economic, psychological and social oppression of the women. Critically, the story of the woman is centered on her pursuit of happiness and peace and desires to escape from the role that is imparted to her by the traditional ways. The association of the woman with motherhood and housewife labels makes her exhausted in conforming to the traditional stereotypes. The roles of women in the community diminished the female gender, and the duties of these women revolved being housekeepers and carrying out domestic chores. Chopin’s theme of feminist explores critical issue gender discrimination in attempts to shed light on the reader on the reasons why there was a rise in feminism movement to liberate women.

Chopin portrays how the independence of a woman is vital both in a marriage and the society. The themes of women oppression and liberation are evident from her story. Mr. Mallard’s death brings Louise joy because she knows that she had been liberated from the oppression she faced. At first, the woman of the story is referred by the name “Mrs. Mallard” which could be interpreted to mean the bondage that Mr. Mallard put her through in their marriage. However, the story calls her ”Louise” after Mr. Mallard’s death. Arguably, Chopin tried to indicate that marriage could sometimes be depressing to a woman by bending her will for independence. Louise says ”I am free of heart and soul” (Chopin 2). The underlying themes of the story show a disdain for the disrespect and mistreatment of women in marriages. Men do not give women a place in the society owing to the stereotypes that cloud their mind regarding the position of a woman in the society. Waldren reports that owing to the year that the story was published, 1894, it is apparent that women faced rough time during the 19th century. Certainly, just as Waldren reports, these women were locked up in their marriages and had to endure every mistreatment as of divorce was not granted to them. The story illustrates how women were victims of oppression and how marriage was a shortcoming in denying women their independence. Louise is a character of interest from whom we are able to notice the women’s social repressions that occurred during the 19th century. They end up living a devastating life as they are limited by marriage.

On the other hand, the fourth of July addresses the unjust realities of the societies arising from racism. The crushing reality of racism made the blacks unequal to the whites, and this is what fueled the concept of freedom and equality for all. Discrimination was rampant in the American society, and people viewed color to be significant. The parents of Lorde shield their child from the reality of racism. Racism was carried out in trains, and there existed separate sitting positions for the African Americans and the whites. The Jim craw laws defined separate schools and public places for the blacks and the whites (Douglass 20). The discrimination powered the development of the civil rights movement where African Americans sought to have equal rights as those given to the whites.

As such, Lorde’s narrative, Fourth of July denotes a narrator’s forced and premature departure from childhood with her visit to Washington. In this first trip, the author evidence that the parents were trying to hide from her the truth of racism. The author employs imagery and diction in attempts to portray how her parents avoided the reality and evil of the world to protect her from the aspect of racism. Notably, Lorde utilizes the brightness evident in Washington DC and color to symbolize the harsh reality of racism which she will face. This is also seen through imagery. Racism was prevalent in Washington DC the brightness of the city is a metaphor for the racism she will encounter. Similar to the way the eyes were left vulnerable in the exposure of sunlight, it symbolizes that Lorde will be left to face racism which will be traumatizing to her. Lorde’s parents who ”did not approve of sunglasses, or of their expense” and thus opted to make their child remain ignorant of the world realities (Lorde 3).

The life of the narrator is turning upside down by racism. ”Perhaps it would go away, deprived of her attention” (Lorde 3). In quest of making her remain blind to the society that surrounds her. When Lorde gets confronted with racism, she wants to make changes and writes that the concept of ”ignorance is bliss” is damaging. According to her, if individuals remain ignorant of the problems affecting them or rather develop a pretense that it does not exist, there will be nothing that will be done to rectify the problem. For this reason, people such as the African Americans will continue to suffer. Lorde highlights that getting educated on the social problems is a crucial step in making changes in the world.

Works Cited

Chopin, Kate. The Story Of An Hour. 1st ed., Toronto, Ontario, Harperperennial Classics, 2014,.

Douglass, Frederick. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, Written by Himself. Eds. William L. Andrews and William S. McFeely. New York: Norton, 1997. Print.

Lorde Arnold. Fourth of July. Milton high school literature. https://mhsliterature.weebly.com/uploads/3/0/3/9/3039381/lorde_fourth_of_july.pdf. Accessed 6 December, 2017.

Waldren, Terry. ”The Storyof an Hour“. The Personnel And Guidance Journal, vol 59, no. 2, 2000, pp. 108-109. Wiley-Blackwell, doi:10.1002/j.2164-4918.1980.tb00509.x.