A Review of Kate Chopin’s Short Stories, the Awakening, the Story of an Hour and her Letters

Kate Chopin is a short story writer. She wrote stories like The Awakening, The Story of an Hour and Her letters. She was influenced by Guy de Maupassant's way of writing. Focusing on Her Letters Chopin tries to convey the message of difference between both males and females and their reaction to infidelity. Chopin doesn't not only write her story from an observer's point of view but by the point of view by a woman that has six children and decided not to be the normal woman that just lives for her husband. Chopin uses imagery, tone and an omniscient narrator convey the difference between men and women reaction to infidelity.

In Her Letters, Kate Chopin uses an omniscient narrator to show the difference between men and women reaction to infidelity. By using an omniscient narrator the reader knows everything that is happening in this case both what is happening to the husband and the wife. "She roused herself from the stupor of thought and gathered the scattered letters once more together, binding them again with the tough twine. She wrapped the compact bundle in a thick sheet of white polished paper." The woman was able to keep the letters as they were psychologically inflicting her damage but she cannot destroy them as they have been with her forever and feels unjust that she would decide about the faith of something that belonged to two people. Unlike her husband that doesn't want to open the package, not knowing what is inside, this will drive him crazy "And yet, and yet, there is but one secret which a woman would choose to have die with her," was the thought which continued to haunt him and deprive him of rest. Days and nights of uncertainty began slowly to unnerve him and to torture him." This shows the respect that both characters have for eachother but also how they are reacting to the situation this is enhanced furthermore by the tone used by the author.

In this short story the author, Kate Chopin, uses tone to get a certain type of reaction and feeling that she expects from the reader. When the husband is abstaining from opening the letters, "And yet, and yet, "There is but one secret which a woman would choose to have die with her," was the thought which continued to haunt him and deprive him of rest. Days and nights of uncertainty began slowly to unnerve him and to torture him." The author uses strong language such as die with her, haunt him, deprive him and torture him, all of these are strong words that leave a bitter feeling to the reader, this is used so that the reader feels sorry for the characters. Sometimes tone mixes in with imagery to convey a particular theme that the author wants to convey to the reader.

The author Kate Chopin uses strong imagery to convey the difference between men and women reaction to infidelity. The imagery used in the story is really strong and leaves a strong message to the reader."The food and the drink set before him had lost their flavor. He did not longer know or care if the sun shone or the clouds lowered about him. A cruel hazard had struck him there where he was weakest, shattering his whole being. The imagery is used to show a picture of sufferance from one of the characters. Chopin makes her characters express emotion strongly in this case make the reader feel sorry for what is happening.

To conclude the author, Kate Chopin uses stylistic features such as an tone, omniscient narrator and a strong imagery to make the reader feel part of the story and see the difference between men and women reaction to infidelity. Not a lot of authors tackle a point this big. KateChopin was inspired by the way Guy de Maupassant wrote but also added her past and her life experiences to her writings. Kate was known for her controversial writings and abording subjects neglected by other writers.

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