Still in the room, Ms. Mallard continues to fantasize about the new life she has found. “Her fancy was running riot along those days ahead of her. Spring days, and summer days, and all sorts of days that would be her own. She breathed a quick prayer that life might be long. It was only yesterday she had thought with a shudder that life might be long” (Chopin). Her prayer that life would be long proves the negative effects of repression. Originally she dreaded that life would be long, but now she values it. Confident in herself, she opens the door to her sister’s plea and descends the stairs with her. There is someone at the door, who turns out to be Mr. Mallard. He had not been killed but was far away from the blast at work. At the sight of him, Josephine and Mr. Richards are
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The story concludes with the author’s use of literary irony. In utilizing this literary device, she closes with a strong statement of the effects that repression can have on an individual. Ms. Mallard apparently has a heart attack . The literary irony is that originally Josephine and Mr. Richards were going to gently tell Ms. Mallard of her husband’s presumed death gently, so as to not affect her heart condition. The news of her husband’s death resulted in her life, but now the news of her husband’s life results in her death. The concluding line, “When the doctors came they said she had died of heart disease--of the joy that kills” (Chopin), illustrates the author’s desire to convey the severity of repression. Someone who is constantly controlled and unable to develop their own life will slowly die from the inside out. Their heart (a reference not to an anatomical structure but the soul and life itself) becomes weak and unable to sustain them. They are not nourished or cared for, constantly taking “abuse” from those around and unable to recover. Although the abuse is not physical, such repression cuts to the soul and has a lasting and, as demonstrated by the story, devastating
The story concludes with the author’s use of literary irony. In utilizing this literary device, she closes with a strong statement of the effects that repression can have on an individual. Ms. Mallard apparently has a heart attack . The literary irony is that originally Josephine and Mr. Richards were going to gently tell Ms. Mallard of her husband’s presumed death gently, so as to not affect her heart condition. The news of her husband’s death resulted in her life, but now the news of her husband’s life results in her death. The concluding line, “When the doctors came they said she had died of heart disease--of the joy that kills” (Chopin), illustrates the author’s desire to convey the severity of repression. Someone who is constantly controlled and unable to develop their own life will slowly die from the inside out. Their heart (a reference not to an anatomical structure but the soul and life itself) becomes weak and unable to sustain them. They are not nourished or cared for, constantly taking “abuse” from those around and unable to recover. Although the abuse is not physical, such repression cuts to the soul and has a lasting and, as demonstrated by the story, devastating