Remember the Titans

The Mystery of Mrs. Mallard “Mrs. Mallard died of heart disease—a joy that kills.” Knowing that Mrs. Mallard had heart trouble, her sister Josephine, broke the news to her as easily as possible that her husband had been killed. It was then that she wept and sank into an armchair her room. Was she weeping with tears of sadness or tears of joy? Mrs. Mallard and her husband had a strange relationship that left her feeling like she was free from prison. After the initial shock of being told the news of her husband’s death, she began to see life like she had never seen it before. Mrs. Mallard gazed out the window as she saw the tops of the trees quiver with new spring life, saw a beautiful blue sky and listened as the breeze made a tune. All of these things are things she had never noticed before. She had been living her life for her husband, through her husband and not living a life of her own. There was a sense of entrapment in their marriage and when she received the news of her husband’s death, she felt a mix of emotions. She was in shock, she was sad and she was terrified because for the first time in her life, she was able to be free—“There would be no one to live for during those coming years; she would live for herself.” But what was even more traumatizing than finding out about Mr. Mallards death, was seeing him walk through the doors; unharmed, alive and standing right before her. The reaction she had to seeing that her husband was in fact alive and not dead is what ultimately killed her. It leaves the readers wondering, was it joy that killed her? Was it fear? Was it shock? The ending is left to be interpreted by the readers and that is perhaps one of the most frustrating things; the lack of black and white facts. Ultimately, I do believe it was shear disappointment that killed Mrs. Mallard. While believing that her husband was dead, she saw herself as having freedom like she’d never had before; she saw the sun shining and trees blowing in the wind.