The Storm

764 Words2 Pages

In Kate Chopin’s “The Storm”, sin happens to make a bond stronger than before. The story illustrates a couple who seems to be similar to the nature surrounding them. Both Calixta and Bobinôt happen to be going through a stormy period in their marriage. Although they are going through this turbulent period, Bobinôt’s actions display his imperfect but unconditional love for his wife. Bobinôt may not be the husband Calixta dreams of but throughout the story he illustrates that it does not matter what happens, the storm will pass and he will love her no matter what.
During the turbulent storm in the story, Kate Chopin depicts that the marriage of Calixta and Bobinôt is going downhill. Both Bobinôt and Calixta are trapped in different locations during the storm. Bobinôt is in a general store and Calixta is at home. Not only are they in different places during the physical storm but they are also in different places on where their marriage stands. Calixta exposes the reader to see that her husband, Bobinôt, does not understand her because during the storm she is buried in the arms of another man. Calixta makes it apparent that she needs more from her husband and if he is not going to give her what she needs, she will find it in another man. The story depicts that Bobinôt did not give his wife the attention she needs when Bibi asked, “Mama’ll be ’fraid, yes” and Bobinôt responds by saying, “She’ll shut the house. Maybe she got Sylvie helpin’ her this evenin’” but Bibi corrects him by saying, “No; she ent got Sylvie. Sylvie was helpin’ her yistiday” (Chopin 96). Bobinôt shows that he is not attentive to what is happening around the home with his wife during this part of the story. Bobinôt’s inattentiveness must cause him to not unders...

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...l things that come when it has passed. Bobinôt’s imperfect marriage leads him to make the decision that no matter what storm Calixta and he go through, his love for her will be unconditional and he will only see the good that happened after a storm. Kate Chopin reinforces the theme by stating, “So the storm passed and everyone is happy” (Chopin 100) Bobinôt will continue being an imperfect husband but he knows that after every storm his marriage will only be restored. Sometimes in order for people to appreciate and love what they have, even if it is not perfect, they have to go through a stormy period , and that is what happened to Calixta and Bobinôt’s marriage.

Works Cited

Chopin, Kate. “The Storm.” Backpack Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing. Ed. X.J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia. 4th ed. New York: Longman, 2012. 95-100. Print.

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