Blog 9

“The Story of An Hour” by Kate Chopin is about a young woman, Louise Mallard, who lost her husband in a train accident. She was told the tragic news by her sister and her husband’s friend. When she heard the news, Louise was very devastated and she immediately started to sob uncontrollably. She cried a lot and then she went to her room to be by herself. As she is crying by herself in her room, a very strange feeling comes over her. She is looking out the window when she begins breathing very heavily and starts to repeat the word “free!” over and over again. At this point, Louise is realizing that now that her husband is dead, she does not have to live for him anymore. She realizes that men and women who are in a relationship are always living for each other and trying to control and change each other. Suddenly she is happy that she can now live for herself and she is looking forward to the rest of her life. She comes out of her room and meets her sister and her husband’s friend at the front door. Someone opens the door and Louise is shocked to see her husband walk through the door. Turns out, he did not make it on that train and he was not even aware that there had been an accident. Louise screams and ends up dying from a heart attack.

In the story, Louise thinks that men and women hold each other back when they are together and she looks forward to living the rest of her life for herself. Louise valued individualism and I believe that Kate Chopin also does since she writes about it. Ralph Waldo Emerson also values the individual. In Ralph Waldo Emerson’s essay “Self Reliance”, he writes a lot about how it is important to be an individual and not conform to what other people are doing. “Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of your own mind.” (Emerson). I think that Emerson’s beliefs that it is important not to conform with what everybody else is doing relates to Kate Chopin’s belief that living for yourself is better than living for someone else.

Bibliography

Chopin, Kate. ""The Story of an Hour"" Virginia Commonwealth University. Web. 21 Feb. 2012.

Emerson, Ralph W. "Self Reliance." Emerson Central. Emerson Texts. Web. 21 Feb. 2012.

Blog 8

The short story “A Wagner Matinee” by Willa Cather is about a boy who takes his aunt to an opera. He receives a letter in the mail that says that his aunt is visiting and to take care of her and keep her entertained. Clark lives in the city but he grew up in the country with his aunt. Clark loves his aunt. She taught him how to read and about music and many other things. She educated him so that he would be able to go live in the city. When his aunt visits, Clark decides to take her to the opera because he knows that she likes music and was educated in it when she was younger. When she goes to the opera, she gets very emotional because it reminds her of why she had to go live in the country away from her family. She used to be very wealthy, but she left that life to elope with her husband, who her family did not approve of. Clarks aunt leaving her wealthy family to pursue her own happiness reminds me of what Henry David Thoreau left his home to live by himself in the woods. He wanted to live by himself to escape society. He left on July Fourth saying that he was “symbolically declaring his independence from society” (Grant) . Henry David Thoreau decided to leave society because he believed that society was "ruined by luxury and heedless expense." (Grant). I think that what Thoreau and Clark’s aunt did was very similar and I think that they would each approve of what the other did. I think that they had similar reasons for leaving their homes. They both wanted to be more independent. I think that Clark’s aunt wanted to achieve independence from her family because they did not approve of her husband.  She did not want to deal with their disapproval so she eloped. She left her life of luxury and wealth for a life of hard work in the country just so she would be able to be with the one she loved. Thoreau was just tired of society being so focused on material things and things that he did not find important. He did not want to be associated with society because he disagreed with a lot of their values that they had. I think that Clark’s aunt and Henry David Thoreau probably shared a lot of beliefs.

Bibliography

Cather, Willa. "A Wagner Matinee." Willa Cather's Short Story:. Web. 21 Feb. 2012. 

Grant, P. B. "Individual and Society in Walden." McClinton-Temple, Jennifer ed. Encyclopedia ofThemes in Literature. New York: Infobase Publishing, 2011. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc