Sorrowful Women and a Story of an Hour

The traditional outlook on life has dissipated in modern years. Men were usually the ones who worked to support the family and maintained a steady income to make the family financially stable. On the contrary, women were expected to raise the children, prepare meals and keep a tidy house. For most, this was the ideal life style that worked effectively. Throughout Gail Godwin's short story, "A Sorrowful Woman", the character is a component of a troubled family. Furthermore in the short story, "The Story of an Hour" written by Kate Chopin, the protagonist, Mrs. Mallard is notified with information that is life altering. A characters motivation drives a story towards the authors intended theme through the actions taken and emotions that are depicted. One such example of a characters ability to portray the author's intentions is in the short story "A Sorrowful Woman" written by Gail Godwin. In this short story, Godwin creates a theme of a troubled family which is seen vicariously through the woman in the story. The support for the troubled family idea is evident throughout the story. The woman has pondered for some time hitting the child and eventually does. It is as though she has lots of resentment towards the boy for some reason. This idea is further perpetuated by the little boy saying "its alright mommy" in his attempt to calm him mother (Godwin pg39 bedford). Her screaming at this statement really shows the troubles that are associated in the story. The woman soon moved into a plain white room with no expression for beauty. This imagery parallels the notion that the woman herself, is just as plain as the white wall where she stays. The troubled family idea arises again when considering the mothers lack of motivation to even leave the house much less doing something productive daily. She never left the house and was content to sit all day in her room and do nothing but perhaps write a poem. Eventually her lack of socialization led to even more