Story Of An Hour Analysis

Both of these stories share many similarities and differences in their overall message. For example, in “The Story of an Hour” the protagonist’s major conflict deals with her joy at the sense of freedom despite her husband’s recent death while in “A&P” the protagonist must choose between rebelling against the established rules in order to achieve some freedom or conforming to the rules and leading a safe and secure life. One of the many differences between these two stories is that only Mrs. Mallard got to enjoy her freedom, at least for a short while, before she passed. On the other hand, Sammy immediately regretted his decision after he realized he received no benefits for taking such a risk to achieve his freedom and that he quit his only
Mallard finally feels free because of the death of her husband while in “A&P” Sammy feels independent and free by quitting his job at the grocery store. They both enjoy the idea of being free however neither character gets to truly enjoy any of their new found freedom due to unexpected circumstances in the stories plot. Another similarity between both of the stories is that the main characters share some important traits, they are both very intelligent people that understand where their social standing should be, at least according to their society, yet both of them choose to rebel against the rules in their own way, and show that they are different than from the average person. In the story Mrs. Mallard is fully aware of what a woman should feel and behave considering the time period she lived in yet she still rebels and enjoys the thought of her newfound freedom not even thinking about her future without her husband or how she would get a new source of income to live
Sammy is shown to be a very intelligent person yet is easily influenced with the proper incentives. As a consequence of his foolish behavior he rashly quits his job in a doomed effort to impress the girls however subconsciously he does it to stand out from the crowd and be different in an attempt to free himself from the path he was heading towards. He immediately regrets his attempt at freedom and questions if it was even worth it overall as he contemplates his decision at the end. On the different side of the spectrum Mrs. Mallard character never regrets her thoughts or feelings towards her independence and enjoys every second of it. Mrs. Mallard viewed her independence as an unexpected miracle that she couldn’t wait to be able explore to the fullest of her capabilities. She even enjoyed the idea of her freedom so much that she immediately died of a heart attack when her one chance of freedom was ripped away from her so