SSRJ#3

Colette’s short story The Hand gave me a feeling of the romance that the new bride had towards her husband, but as the story progressed I began to dislike the wife because I felt as if though she was being to critical about her husband, and though she might of gotten married way too soon. Especially because Colette lets us know that the husband had just been widowed.
The whole meaning of the story itself is revealed at the end when the woman ‘humbly’ reaches out to her husband’s hand and despite of how horrified it had been the night before she gives it a kiss. The kiss reveals that the wife is after all truly in love with her husband. Colette uses imagery to make her point. The horrifying image that the wife gives us of her husband’s hand symbolizes that ugly moments that the couple might have in the future because they truly did not know each other before getting married. It also symbolizes that, for the wife, she is willing to put simple defects of her husband aside in order to love him till the end of time.
Even though I was a bit upset at the wife for thinking that her husband’s hand was horrific, I was proud of her to kiss her husband’s hand as a sign of her true feelings towards him, but I wonder what would have happened to their relationship if she would have spoken up about her feelings about her husband’s appearance? Twenty years from now, I wonder how she would describe her husband’s hand.

SSRJ#1 Chopin

After reading Chopin's short story The Story of an Hour I was very shocked at the ending. At first I felt sorry for Mrs. Mallard but as her feelings changed I thought why if she felt so trapped in her marriage did she not try to get out of it. But after a while my emotions changed to agree more with her and actually be happy that she felt relieve that her husband had died and that finally she had felt self assertion. I think that the only thing that I can relate is that I too would react with tears if I found out that my husband had died in an accident.

The setting that the Chopin uses is a surprising one, because the reader would have never guessed that at the end Mr. Mallard shows up very well alive and Mrs Mallard dies of heart disease. Chopin sets everything up as to where the reader begins to think that Mrs. Mallard will finally be able to be on her own and do with her live as she wishes, and all her 'freedom' is taken by the sight of her live husband. Overall what Chopin was pointing out to the reader is that you never know what can happen; and she made her point very clear when Mr. Mallard shows up at the end.

I wonder what would of happened if Mr. Mallard had never shown up, how would Mrs. Mallard have gone about with her life?