Comparing Silko's Yellow Woman and Chopin's Story of an Hour

Comparing Silko's Yellow Woman and Chopin's Story of an Hour

In the stories "Yellow Woman" and "Story of an Hour", both women were under the subjection of men. They were depicted as weak, loving the men of domination, but wanting to escape the men's shadows.

In Silko's "Yellow Woman", the confusing western-type setting of dry, hot alkali-white crust dirt, rivers, and horses with the contrast of modern day mentioning of trucks, schools, and jello set the tone. The narrator's desire to seek solace in her grandpa who was dead(191). But the next best thing was to seek comfort in his story that he liked to tell. Instead, the narrator placed herself in the story which she told to her family(193). The protagonist ,which is the narrator, was depicted as a weak, but sex driven woman. She was handled roughly by Silva due to his pinning her down (191) and threats of "you will do what I want"(190). She wanted to get away but chose not to leave. Silva was a man that spoke dictatingly and to the point. The protagonist in the story took pride in her lover Silva. She enjoyed his sexual encounters as well as his physical attributes. She also enjoyed the adventures of riding off with him to places where he went, but not knowing him for he was a stranger. The narrator was torn between the present ( husband Al, baby, grandma and mother) and the past (grandpa, story about ka'tsina spirit). The protagonist seemed to to enjoy being dictated what to do by Silva. The narrator and Silva seemed to be free spirits. They both loved adventure. But Silva was entitled to the right whereas Yellow Woman was no more than a weak follower with no say in the matter. The narrator and Yellow Woman felt that they had to be submissive to their men. The narrator's Indian background, Pueblo, seemed to be strict with the women expressing how they really feel to their husband. Also, the men seem to be honest since the narrator sopke "the men don't do things like that"(190). The narrator deserve to escape but she just took a walk along the river but she would eventually "come home"(191). It was strikingly interesting to see Al playing with the baby with no clue as to how the narrator was feeling.

On the other hand, Chopin's The Story of an