Mr. Mallard's Death

Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour” has many characters introduced in a short period of time, none of which we really get to know. Even with the brevity of it, the story leaves the reader feeling dismayed- spoiler alert- at the untimely death of Mrs. Mallard. Chopin chose a strange way of leaving the readers with more speculations than answers. There are many essays to be written on the way Chopin chose to end her short story; the focus of this one is the way she chose to present the end prognosis to the readers. She did not simply tell the readers that Mrs. Mallard dies, but rather lets the doctors who later arrive give the reader their view of the incident. This method insures that the opinion of her death was seen through the eyes of “society”

Richards is introduced as a friend of Mr. Mallard. The closeness of this friendship probably included talking, during which a plethora of topics would have been brought up and shared. Talking about one’s home life is a normal conversation that anyone could have with a stranger, and therefore we can safely assume that Richards was well-aware the nature of the marriage between Louise and her husband. Since he went to the house to deliver the news, we know that he has likely been there many times before. Chopin would not have wanted the news of the death of Mrs. Mallard to come from the friend of the couple because Richards would have told it like Josephine: She died of sadness, not joy. If Richards had just been a coworker than he might not have seen the private lives of the Mallards and there would be no room for speculation otherwise. He was obviously much closer to Mrs. Mallard than just a friend of her husband. He had barely “taken the time to assure himself of [the accident’s] truth by a second telegram,” (Chopin 15) before he “hastened off to forestall any less tender friend in bearing the sad message” (15). Although this seems like the innocent acts of a dear friend, the story does not include him grieving for his friend and, as the reader knows, he is not even the person to tell the news to Mrs. Mallard. He seems to only care about making sure he is there when she finds out she is a widow. Due to the shortness of the timeframe, it is possible this whole crisis

Mallard’s death in “veiled hints that revealed in half concealing” (Chopin 15). We are never given the reason for Josephine being there; it is possible that she was currently living there since we are introduced to her by her first name, instead of her husband’s last name. Perhaps there is no husband and, as we know by the history of that time, unmarried women do not live by themselves. Living with her sister, Josephine would absolutely know the uneventful marriage of the Mallards. She would see her sister growing more tired with each passing day and would understand the happiness that lies behind the shock of losing Mr. Mallard. This is shown when Louise comes out of the room she had locked herself in with a look of “feverish triumph in her eyes” (16). Josephine does not question why but instead allows Louise to “[clasp her] waist and together they descended down the stairs” (16). She is also not shown being excited when she realizes Mr. Mallard is still alive, but instead exhibits a “piercing cry” (16). This expression is closer to disappointment than happiness. She is the closest to Louise and therefore would have been the worst person to give the news of her death to the readers. It would have taken all of the debate and speculation of the death away from those who enjoy disputing with one another over ambiguous