Mrs. Mallard 'And Dee's Short Story Of An Hour'

Pop quiz: If someone were to tell you that they were a multiethnic cisgender ambiverted pisces, would you understand what that meant and be able to derive meaning from those identifiers? Most likely the answer is yes.

Today’s Lexicon has been gifted with a slew of self identifiers, some of which touch on significant aspects of our identity and some of which are less than relevant. With an arsenal of descriptives at our fingertips how we choose our identity is important. What makes it even more important is making sure that the formation of the basis of our identity is not influenced by systems of oppression so we can form our identities of our own volition and so that those identities can accurately reflect who we are. In the short stories
Both Mrs. Mallard’s and Dee’s identities stem from systems of oppression however in Mrs. Mallard’s case this is involuntary while in Dee’s it is a conscious, misinformed decision.

While both short stories are chalked full of symbolism, there are two symbols that greatly interest me. In The Story of an Hour Louise looks on past storm clouds to patches of blue sky. In Everyday Use Mama, with more passion and love than she’s shown Maggie the entire story, bestows the quilt upon her. Both of these objects, the patches of blue sky and the quilt, symbolize the future.

In context of Chopin’s story, the patches of blue sky appear after to Louise after her husband passes. The storm that preludes the bright, clear day to come is representative of her current grief. However Louise knows that following this grief and as a result of her husband’s death that there will be better things to come. Her clarity of identity and the shedding of the moniker Mrs. Mallard, grants her freedom. Now unburdened by her wifely duties she is able to see her future, one that is chalked full of opportunity and potential, sunny and
Walker’s point isn’t that deriving your identity from cultural pride makes you a big bad blind racist. Both authors simply seek to elicit to the audience the importance of understanding where one’s identity comes from and retaining that individual identity.

In the conclusion of Story of An Hour Louise’s identity is reclaimed from her with the reappearance of her not-so-dead husband, the despair following this event causing her to die. In Everyday Use Mama rejects Dee's idea of identity, and gives the quilt to the sister that does not possess a distorted view of her own identity, reassuring the readers that their identity will be preserved and their familial heritage will thrive.

The difference between establishing one’s identity based on a lasting misconception stemming from a system of oppression (Story of an Hour) and the enlightenment of what those misconceptions are (Everyday Use), is Death and Survival. Literally and