The Story of an Hour

I attempted to read “Story of an Hour” carefully and thoughtfully, looking for descriptive words and phrases that might use the hint of foreshadowing to give me an insight to the ending of this short story. The awareness that Mrs. Mallard was actually at peace with her husband’s supposed passing was evident as early as the fifth chapter. Phrases such as “trees that were all aquiver with new spring life,” “delicious breath of rain,” “patches of blue sky showing here and there through the clouds” caught my attention immediately. The words of freedom were used later on in the story, but the impression of a newness of life after Brently Mallard’s death suggested that Mrs. Mallard was already imagining her own new life beginning during that first hour of the tragic news. So, the idea that she was not grieving, and my wondering how this was to be revealed to the other characters in the story, Richards and Josephine, left me somewhat dumbfounded by the ending. I was totally shocked that Brently Mallard was still alive, and even more shocked that his wife, afflicted with heart trouble, keeled over dead at the sight of her living husband!