English 12: Short story personal response for The Locket, by Kate Chopin

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English 12: Short story personal response for The Locket, by Kate Chopin

In the lives of many people, certain items have held great importance in those lives due to their association with elements that has an significant, if not symbolic effect on their lives, such as association with past memories, events, or people. The locket presented in The Locket by Kate Chopin is one that binds the themes of love, loss, the chaos of war together throughout the entire story. I believe that the locket is symbolic the motif of love in part I, and loss in part II of the story separately, this is due to shift in focus of the characters from Edmond to Octavie in the story, and the relative situation and circumstance presented in each section. I believe the locket is symbolic of the motif of love in part I due to the significance that the locket is to Edmond. In part I, we see a flash back of Edmond to the day of departure, where Octavie gave him the locket, and here we see that the locket is explained to be of great importance to Octavie as it was her most precious earthly possession. The locket is important not for just it's monetary value, but the emotional attachment of its associated memories, as it was a miniature of her mother and father and the date of their marriage, an important date in the lives of many people in many culture, a culmination and climax of devotion and love. The effect of this gift was to demonstrate the depth of love Octavie had for Edmond, as Edmond in return understand the significance of the item for Octavie as shown in his flashback. This is further compounded by the significance the locket as a memorabilia of an important event, the marriage of Octavie's parents, as the item is to act as an remembrance for the un...

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...e, and the locket is the now the source of that grief as it is now associated with the death of her lover. In the end of the story, it is revealed that Edmond has survived the war, and returned to her, and in amazement at this miraculous return, Octavie is described to have her youth and life returned, further showing the depth of her love and bond to Edmond, and it is explained in the heat and confusion of battle and retreat, the locket was stolen from Edmond by one of his comrades. This is significant as the chaos of the grim battlefield caused the loss of the locket, and the loss of a mere boy who in his death, again playing on the motifs of loss, and the effects of war, causing deaths of others who are not bestowed with the fortunes to survive and return from the miss-fortunes of war. And with this, the locket binds love and loss together with the effects of war.

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