The Black Veil
The Black Veil by Nathaniel Hawthorne is about a young minister, Mr. Hooper. He is a young Puritan minister who at first seems like every minister. But all of a sudden he starts wearing a black face that covers most of his face. First of all, Mr. Hooper is a Puritan minister in a Puritan community. Puritans came to the colonies seeking refuge from the corrupt English church and freedom to worth ship as they will. On important factor of the Puritan religions is togetherness. Togetherness is a strong concept since they believed that by sticking together, they can accomplish anything. By Mr. Hooper wearing the black veil he is isolating himself from the community.
“Strange and bewildered looks repaid him for his courtesy. None: as on former occasions, aspired the honor of walking by his their pastor’s side. Old Squire Saunders, doubtless by an accidental lapse of memory, neglected to invite Mr. Hooper to his table, where the good clergyman had been wont to bless the food, almost every Sunday since his settlement.”
Another example of trust is between Mr. Hooper and young fiancée Elizabeth. Elizabeth doesn’t like the veil and she pleads Mr. Hooper to take it off. He explains that the black veil is now part of him in both body and mind. Elizabeth gets upset and leaves him. The black veil disturbed Elizabeth so much that some of her trust in him faded. Thus, Mr. Hooper is alone for the rest of his life.
In this quote, Nathaniel is displaying an example of how people are beginning to avoid Mr. Hooper. Nathaniel Hawthorne also uses a black veil. A veil is often use if you want to hide your face. But the chosen of color is what makes the difference. The veil that Mr. Hooper wears is black. Black is often use for mourning or a symbol or sadness or evil. By choosing black Nathaniel Hawthorne is displaying a trait of Gothicism. Gothicism is use to emphasize the negativity of life.
Such was the effect of this simple crepe, that more than one woman of delicate nerves was forced to leave the meeting-house. Yet perhaps the pale-faced congregation was almost as fearful a sight to the minister, as his black veil to them.
The black veil caused people to be fearful. One example as demonstrate din the quote was that women need to be taken away. It also mentions that people were pale. A person is usually pale when they are sick or when they are frightened. In this case people were frightened. Other examples are show when people shunned him and when children run away. These actions followed him all the way to his deathbed. The black veil is also a symbol of spirits and death. One example is when a woman at a funeral says that she feels that the minister and the young lady are walking hand by hand. The young lady is of course dean, and the woman is referring to the young lady’s spirit, thus also another example of Gothicism.

Young Goodman Brown
Young Goodman Brown is a Puritan, as mention in the story. Puritans are people who believe very strongly in God and who look down at people who have fun at the expense of not worshipping correctly. The story also takes place in Salem which is a coincidence since Salem was the setting for the Salem witch trials. The Salem Witch Trials a time when innocent business women were accused by young girls and hanged by these false accusations. These hangings finally stopped when the governor’s own wife was accused of being a witch. So anyway, Goodman was summoned for a meeting supposedly but he doesn’t know what it is about. Nathaniel Hawthorne uses some Gothicism in his writing style.
He had taken a dreary road, darkened by all the gloomiest trees of the forest, which barely stood aside to let the narrow path creep through, and closed immediately behind. It was all as lonely as could be; and there is this peculiarity in such solitude, that the traveler knows not who may be concealed by the innumerable trunks and the thick boughs overhead; so that with lonely footsteps he may yet be passing through an unseen multitude.
Gothicism often focuses on the darker and negative perspective of life. It is the complete opposite of Romanism. Nathaniel Hawthorne uses words such as dreary, darkened, and gloomiest. This words all make a somewhat reference to darkness, which is a trait of Gothicism. He also uses words such as solitude and lonely two times throughout this quote. Characters who are often portrayed in Gothicism are often characters who are alone, thus again making a reference to Gothicism. The reason he uses Gothicism is to emphasize the evil that awaits a good Puritan like Young Goodman Brown.
Another concept that Nathaniel Hawthorne uses is that Young Goodman Brown wife’s name is Faith.
So they parted; and the young man pursued his way until, being about to turn the corner by the meeting-house, he looked back and saw the head of Faith still peeping after him with a melancholy air, in spite of her pink ribbons.
An important factor is the Puritan religion was Faith. Faith was a strong concept because they needed faith to undertake a long journey from home. They also needed faith to strive for their own right. They also need faith if they want to be one of the few chosen ones. Nathaniel Hawthorne probably named her Faith due to her strong devotion not only to God but to her husband as it seems that she is very worried about him. Another factor that Nathaniel Hawthorne uses with Faith is that he always mentions her pink bows. Pink is very different from black which is the key color of Gothicism. Pink on the other hand symbolizes love and innocence which is a key factor of Romanism. This, Nathaniel Hawthorne makes it an irony. By also using that Faith uses bows he is bestowing her childlike innocence which is also another factor of Romanism.

Spontaneous Me
Spontaneous is an impulse of doing something that isn’t in your normal routine. How Whitman represents the feeling of being spontaneous is by nature. Nature is often changing from a calm scenario to all of a sudden a scene filled with recklessness and chaos.
“The same late in autumn, the hues of red, yellow, drab, purple, and light and dark green…”
Probably the two most unexpected seasons are those of spring and autumn. One moment it can be a warm and sunny day and the next an unexpected frost can come in or a violent storm may occurred. He chooses autumn for his setting. When he mentions the” same late in autumn” he is building suspense for the reader since after all, his poem is titled Spontaneous Me. He creates a lot of imagery throughout the story. Such as when he mentions the different colors of red, yellow, drab, purple, and light and dark green he is creating the illusion of autumn. He is also creating that autumn is spontaneous itself since it is all of these different colors. He also uses a lot of diction throughout his poem.
“The real poems, (what we call poems being merely pictures,)
The poems of the privacy of the night, and of men like me,
This poem drooping shy and unseen that I always carry, and that all men carry”
He repeats the word “poem” three times throughout the story. A poem is usually a group of words and phrases that focus on something but in a more artistic and personal way than writing. There are also different types of poems. He uses poems because some may be straightforward and others may not, thus again indicating the concept of spontaneously. He also mentions something curious. He mentions that all men are a form or a poem. A poem usually represents a very intricate soul. A man is often seen as very self-righteous and loud individual. By comparing himself and all men he is emphasizing that people don’t appeared to be what they seem, and that everybody is a somewhat complex individual. Throughout his poem Whitman keeps on making reference to nature, but now to a whole different concept. He uses the concept of sex in a male and a female. He uses again details and forms of imagery to demonstrate his point. One point that he makes is that the young man is red, ashamed, and angry. Red usually represents embarrassment. He also mentions that the young man is ashamed that is a somewhat weird concept. A woman is the one who is often seen as the ashamed one not only in life but in books and poems. With this idea he opens up a whole new concept of love making. He also makes a reference to masturbation in his poem.
“The young man that wakes deep at night, the hot hand seeking to repress what would master him;”
Maybe this is the cause of the young men’s shame. Whitman wrote this poem in the era in which such act was considered dirty and foul in God’s eyes. In all, Whitman tries to make the reader comprehend that nature and sex isn’t that all different in the whole spontaneously concept.

Learning to Read and Write
In his autobiography Frederick Douglass writes about his experience in learning to read and write, thus the title. In the beginning of the story he describes a kind mistress with kindness and compassion. Frederick Douglass was born in time where there was still slavery, and that the gift of reading and writing was unknown to most slaves. Reading and writing was also sometimes treated as dangerous, since often a good education can lead to revolutionary ideas or turmoil.
“The more you know the farther, you will go.”(Dr. Seuss)
A person who seems to have a somewhat profound impression on Douglass is his mistress.
‘My mistress was, as I had said, a kind and tender-hearted woman; and in the simplicity of her soul she commenced, when I first went to live with, to treat me as she supposed one human being ought to treat another.’
He describes his mistress ass “kind” and a “tender-hearted” woman. These words are often link to describe a very somewhat compassionate person, which she was in the beginning. He also mentions “to treat me as she supposed one human being ought to treat another”, this signifies that maybe at the beginning he wasn’t treated as a full right slave with the beatings, harsh job conditions, and cruel injustices. As he goes on throughout the story he mentions that his mistress’ demeanor has changed significantly from the compassionate woman he met at the beginning.
“Slavery soon proved its ability to divest her of these heavenly qualities. Under its influence, the tender heart became stone, and the lamb-like disposition gave way to one of tiger-like fierceness. She now commenced to practice her husband’s percepts. She finally became even more violent in her opposition than her husband himself. She was not satisfied with simply doing as well as he had commanded; she seem anxious to do better. Nothing seemed to make her more angry than to see me with a newspaper.”
He points out that slavery is an ugly thing that will change anybody’s prospection on things, such as was the case with his mistress. He uses the words “heavenly qualities.” Heaven is often seen as the uttermost paradise. Bu using the word heaven he is emphasizing her kindness towards others. He compares his mistress to a lamb. A lamb is often seen as docile and a gentle creature, thus emphasizing his mistress’ kindness. But then after the change on her demeanor he compares her to a tiger. A tiger is often seen as an evil and greedy person as seen in The Jungle Book. The reason that he compares her to a tiger is to emphasize her cruelty and inhumane behavior towards him. The lasts two example were metaphors. He also displays that her “heart became stone” which again is used to emphasize her cruelty to the slaves. When he describes her mood when she caught him with a newspaper is “most angry”. By adding the word “most” is that his crime of reading and writing was now a huge form of disobedience. A newspaper is a source of information of the outside word. By also mentioning the newspaper, he is hinting that his mistress probably didn’t wanted him from getting any ideas of becoming free or starting a riot that may cause the other slaves in the household to revolt against their masters.

From The Autobiography of Thomas Jefferson
Most people know who Thomas Jefferson was. He of course was the third president of the United States of American and he is also the writer of the famously known Declaration of Independence. Sounds like a very just man or was he? But in reality the Declaration of Independence has some form of hypocritical claim.
‘We hold these truths to be self evident: that all men are created equal; and that they are endowed by their Creator with inherent and inalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; that to secured these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent; that whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it…”
He mentions that every man has the rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Slaves didn’t had the right of life since they were own by white man who decided for them. They didn’t have any form freedom either. Especially with the “One drop blood”, it also affected the chances of their descendants of becoming free. The “One Drop Blood Rule” is that is at least halfway along your family line there was a person who was black that automatically made you black. Even if you look completely white but you great grandmother was black you were also black. He even made an equation and pointed out physical characteristics that indicated that you were black.He also mentions that if the people found the government unfair they had the right to go against it. If slaves try to revolt against the white man, it will had cause most of them their deaths. Thomas Jefferson didn’t even have the heart to free his own black children.
Thomas Jefferson said that all men are created equal but he didn’t include men who were slaves or black. Then shouldn’t he have said that all white man is equal?
“When, in the course of human event, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth to separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of that they should declare the causes which impel them to separate.”
Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence during the Revolutionary War. The Revolutionary war was the time when the colonies were fighting to gain their Independence from its mother country, England, thus the line:
“…and to assume among the powers of the earth to separate… “
The colonies separated from England because they were tired of the injustices it imposed on the colonies in general. So they fought to gain their freedom. But again if a black person try to do that it will mean their death. He also mentions God a lot, thus emphasizing that everything that happened was God’s will.

Phillis Wheatly
Phillis Wheatly was a woman who wrote poems and got them publish. How is this extraordinary? Well for one, she was woman. Phillis was born during the Revolutionary Era. During that time women’s right were far from the priorities of colonial governments.
“In an age in which even few white women were given an education, Wheatly was taught to read and write, and in a short time began reading Latin writers.”
Today very few people still have some knowledge of the Latin, but during that era, someone who knew Latin was considered a very intelligent and well-off individual. By the author mentioning this he or she is emphasizing Phillis intelligence. Phillis went to Britain to get her poems published but she never saw the outcome since she had to returned home to her mistress. Shortly after her owners died, Phillis was wed, but died shortly after which was not uncommon during that era. Phillis wrote several poems throughout her short life. One of the themes always mention in her poems is freedom, as demonstrated to her letter directed to George Washington. George Washington, of course, the leader of the revolutionaries. The revolutionaries were fighting for freedom. Another theme that she also focuses on is God, which is reasonable since religion has always been important throughout history.
“The blissful news by messenger from Heaven,
How Jesus’ blood from your redemption flows.
See Him with hands outstretched upon the cross;
Immense compassion in His bosom glows;
He hears revilers, nor resents their scorn:
What matchless mercy in the Son of God!”
In this quote, Phillis is describing the moment when Jesus is put on the cross. She uses imagery when she uses phases such as “Jesus’ blood from your redemption flows” and “Him with hands outstretched upon the cross”. By writing about this, thinks that by somebody dying for others is a great act of courage in human kind. In other poems she also mentions God.
“ ’Twas mercy brought me from my pagan land,
Taught my benighted soul to understand
That there’s a God, that there’s a savior too:”
On Being brought from America to America, is a poem by Phillis describing her journey on the slave ship. Again she mentions God. She does this to install a somewhat faint light of hope. She feels that even though is black and a slave, when she dies she is going to go to heaven. This claim can be supported by this quote.
Remember Christians, Negroes, back as Cain,
May be refined and join the angelic train.
The angelic train represents heaven. By adding Christians and black she is referring that whether the race, there is a heaven for everybody to share. In her biography it is mention that Phillis’ masters were deeply religious and so was she. This may have had some profound effect on her writing style.

Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl
Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl is about Linda Trent, a young slave girl who seems to live a normal life until she is six years old. One of the themes that Harriet Jacobs focuses on is the injustice to being a slave. Harriet Jacobs uses irony in the first few paragraphs. How she uses irony is because Linda doesn’t know about the truth about her origin. She still doesn’t know what a slave is and that she is one. One of the reasons may have been because most of Linda’s family is mulattoes. Meaning that she isn’t full black and neither her family. Her family also seems to be respected throughout the society even though they are slaves. Her childhood is described as happy and carefree as possible.
“I was born a slave; but I never knew it till six years of happy childhood had passes away.”
It wasn’t until Linda’s mother had passes away that she finally discovered the true meaning of slavery. Even though Linda’s new mistress was kind to her, when she died she didn’t gave Linda her freedom. Instead she trusted Linda to a cruel master, Dr. Flint. How was this a form of injustice? Well first of all Linda’s mistress was Linda’s mother foster sister.
“She was the foster of my mother; they were both nourished at my grandmother’s breast. In fact my mother had been weaned at three months old, that the babe of the mistress might obtain sufficient food.”
Linda’s mother was also the slave for her foster sister, even though they had been fed by the same milk.
“They played together as children; and, when they became women, my mother was a most faithful servant to her foster sister.”
Harriet Jacobs adds the word most before faithful, thus emphasizing Linda’s mother’s loyalty, but Linda still remained a slave. When Linda’s mistress died she thought she was going to become freed. Alas, she was trusted in the care of a cruel and neglectful master, Dr. Flint.
“But I was her slave, and I suppose she didn’t recognize me as her neighbor. I would give much to blot out form my memory this great wrong. As a child, I loved my mistress; and, looking back on the happy days I spent with her, I try to think with less bitterness of this act of injustice. While I was with her, she taught me to read and spell; and for this privilege, which so rarely falls to the lot of a slave, I bless her memory.”
Linda mentions is this quote that she loved her mistress. By using the word loved Linda is emphasizing her loyalty to her. She uses the phase “great wrong” and the word “injustice” to name the deed that was taken with her. Again the deed was giving her to Dr. Flint. She does this to emphasize how this trading off was a cruel reward to her loyalty to her mistress. But even with this trading off she is still grateful to her mistress. She mentions that her mistress taught her to read and write. During the slavery era a slave was rarely granted this gift. This act of kindness still lets Linda to see her mistress with kind eyes. Through the story there are still more acts of injustices not only to Linda, but to other slaves among the society. As Linda grows up she encounters more and more of these acts of cruelty.

The Fall of the House of Usher
The Fall of the House of Usher is another short story written by Edgar Allen Poe. The Fall of the House of Usher is about a narrator who goes visit his ill friend Roderick Usher, but with unexpected twists. Again the main character remains nameless. Also in this story he uses the style of Gothicism.
“During the whole of a dull, dark, and soundless day in the autumn of the year, when the clouds hung oppressively low in the heavens, I had been passing alone, on horseback, through a singularly dreary tract of country; and at length found myself, as the shades of evening drew on, within a view of the melancholy House of Usher.”
Edgar Allen Poe uses such words as dull, dark, low, dreary, and melancholy. These words are often seen or link to negativity or evil, thus a trait of Gothicism. The choice of time he also chooses affects the tone of the story. He chooses autumn and evening. The season of autumn is often link to Hallows Eve a time when supposedly ghosts come out and played. He also chooses evening, which is often also seen as the time when evil spirits come out, thus people prefer to stay at home. These feeling and representation are all form of Gothicism. The house itself in The Fall of the House of Usher seems to represent the definition and the theme of Gothicism. Romanism focuses on the rosy and positive side of life, but Gothicism is the pure opposite of Romanism. Gothicism focuses on the more negative and darker side of life. Edgar Allen Poe is an expert on such.
“I looked upon the scene before me—upon the mere house, and upon the simple landscapes features of the domain—upon the blank walls—upon the vacant eye-like windows—upon a few rank sedges—an upon a few white trunks of decayed trees—with an utter depression of soul which I can compare no earthly sensation more properly than to the after-dream of the reveller upon opium—the bitter lapse into every-day life—the hideous dropping of the veil.”
Edgar Allen Poe uses a lot of detail in describing the house of Usher. He also goes into great detail in describing the surroundings of the house of Usher. He uses the word “simple” and “few white trunks of decayed tress” to describe the surroundings of the house. The word emphasizes that the house is all by itself and that there isn’t probably any other house nearby. He also uses the word “decayed” to describe the trees, thus emphasizing the lifeless atmosphere of the hose. He uses words such as “vacant”, “blank”, and “few”. Those words are often used to describe an empty place, thus again emphasizing the lifeless atmosphere of the house. These traits are also all traits of Gothicism.
“It was not a mystery all-insoluble; nor could I grapple with the shadowy fancies that crowded conclusions, that while, beyond doubt, there are combinations of very simple natural objects…”
The choices of words that he uses are mystery, shadowy, and crowded conclusion. All of this words are somewhat related because they are often link to describe the unknown. That is what the narrator tries to emphasize of what he encounters at the house of Usher. He doesn’t know what to expect from such a house. So his view of the house is that he is afraid of what he might encounter in there.

The Pit and the Pendulum
The Pit and the Pendulum is written by Edgar Allen Poe. The main character of the story is a man who is nameless. The man is sent to the prison of Toledo for being a committing a crime against the crown most likely a religious one.
“Yet, for a while, I saw; but with how terrible an exaggeration an exaggeration! I saw the lips of the black-robbed judges…I saw that the decrees of what to me was Fate was issuing from those lips. I saw them writhe with a deadly locution.”
The author mentions judges which indicate that he is on trial. He is sentenced to death when he mentions “I saw what the decrees of what to me was Fate”; fate of course is his life. He also mentions the word “deadly” which again supports the idea that he is sentenced to death.
As evidence that it was a religious crime is that he mentions seven candles.
“And then my vision felled upon the seven tall candles upon the table.”
How the number seven is important is that there are seven deadly sins in the Catholic religion, this indicates that he is Protestant. The narrator also uses the phase “I saw” several times throughout the passage. He uses that phase to emphasize his horror of what is occurring in his life at the moment. Edgar Allen Poe also uses ethos when he describes certain actions taken by the character.
“I had swooned; but will not say that all of consciousness was lost.”
The narrator faints a lot throughout the story. This demonstrates that he has a somewhat delicate character. Edgar Allen Poe also uses other different examples of ethos to show off the other character traits of the narrator.
“Up to the period when I fell, I had counted fifty-two paces, and, upon resuming my walk, I had counted forty-eight paces—when I arrived at the rag.”
By counting the cell the narrator is demonstrating curiosity. Any other prisoner will had just sat there lamenting his doom fate. Edgar Allen Poe wrote using Gothicism. Gothicism is dark and depressive, and it usually looks at the negativity of life. Edgar Allen Poe demonstrates this throughout his story.
The blackness of the eternal night encompassed me, I gasped for breath. The intensity of the darkness seemed to oppressed and stifle me. The atmosphere was intolerably close.
Edgar Allen Poe uses blackness, night, and darkness. Those words are often link to evil or negative energies. They are also used to emphasize the narrator’s current state of negativity. With those words Edgar Allen Poe links to Gothicism. At the end of the Pit and the Pendulum the narrator is rescued by the French.
“There was a loud blast as of many trumpets! There was a discordant hum of human voices! There was a harsh grating of a thousand thunders! The fiery walls rushed back!”
In this quote Edgar Allen Poe uses syntax. How he uses syntax is that he uses several exclamation points and the sentences are somewhat short. He uses exclamation point to emphasize the narrator’s disbelief and happiness of being rescued.

Aren’t I a Woman?
Aren’t I a Woman is a speech by Isabelle Baunfree aka Sojourner Truth. The speech was delivered at a women’s rights convention. Sojourner Truth never actually wrote down the speech nevertheless, it was a speech forever remembered throughout history. It describes how a black woman wasn’t treated the same way like a white woman.
“I have plowed, and planted, and gathered into barns, and no man could head me-and aren’t I a woman?”
She also pointed out that a woman whether the race wasn’t given the same rights as a white man.
“Then the little man in black there, he says women can’t have as much right as man, ‘cause Christ wasn’t a woman.”

She gives out several examples to support both claims of unfairness. She also goes into length about the suffering of a black woman.
“I have borne thirteen children and seen them almost all sold off slavery, and when I cried out with a mother’s grief, one but Jesus heard-and aren’t I a woman?”

A copy of the speech was later published. In 1881 Frances Gage printed out a copy of them speech too. The speech by Frances Gage and Sojourner were similar in all accounts except one. First of all Sojourner Truth was a freed slave. That means that in her childhood and maybe throughout her early adulthood Sojourner Truth was a slave and was treated as a slave and was handed work as a slave. Frances Gage on the other hand was a white woman. There is a debate whether Frances Gage did this to poke fun at Sojourner Truth. In my opinion I believed that the speech written by Frances Gage was the more accurate. Well for one thing it can be assume that Sojourner Truth never got an education. This can be proven by this statement.
Then they talk about this thing in the head-what’s this they call it? (“Intellect”, whispered someone near.) That’s it honey.
“Den dey talk ‘bout dis ting in de head; what dis dey call it?” (“Intellect,” whispered someone near.) “Dat’s it, honey.
In both examples Sojourner Truth makes the same statement, but the way she said was different. Why can it be assumed that Sojourner Truth never got an education was because she asked a question about something very obvious and the way she stated in both statements. She said “Then they talk about this thing in the head…” The way she stated it makes the reader wonder whether she actual got some form of education.
When a person is a slave their work comes before anything else. They will have to work from when the sun rises to when the sun sets or even later than that. In history there are very few accounts where a slave actually got an education, even less of those of women. Then there also a different example where a slave talks in the same way that Sojourner Truth is portrayed. One example is Huckleberry Finn. In Huckleberry Finn, Jim, the slave, has a very similar dialect to that of the Sojourner Truth portrayed in Frances Gage’s account of the speech. I believed that the fact that Sojourner Truth didn’t had any education support Frances Gage’s paper.

The Story of an Hour
The story of an hour is that of Mrs. Mallard. A woman who is told the news that her husband has been killed at a railroad accident. Mrs. Mallard it seems is heartbroken by the sad news, or is she? Some of her actions contradict this statement. At the end it is discovered that her husband is alive. When Mrs. Mallard hears about this and sees him she dies of a heart attack. Buy why?
In the beginning of the story it is mention that Mrs. Mallard has a heart condition. This may have lead to her sudden death or it may have been something else.
“Knowing that Mrs. Mallard was afflicted with a heart problem great care was taken to break to break to her as gently as possible the news of her husband’s death.”
Another conclusion may have been the reaction to her husband’s death and then to the reaction that he was alive. When she found out that he was dead she reacted like any typical wife will do.
“She wept at once, with sudden, wild abandonment, in her sister’s arms.”
By the author using such words as sudden, once, and wild she is emphasizing her grief. The character’s actions also support this statement.
“When the storm of grief had spent itself she went away to her alone. She would have no one follow her.”
Sometimes when someone is extremely sad they want to be alone, so they can deal with the mourning by themselves and settle their thought on such an unexpected event.
This may have been the reason for her death. But the most convicting one is the disappointment of finding out that her husband was actually alive. During Mrs. Mallard’s era, women didn’t have any authority positions or right to vote. They didn’t even have the right to govern themselves or any aspect of their lives. Their lives either belong to their fathers or their husbands. This was the case for Mrs. Mallard.
“There were patches of blue sky showing here and here through the clouds that had met and piled one above the other in the west facing her window.”
Why will the author go into such detail describing the sky? Well for one thing it is because of what it symbolizes. The sky often symbolizes freedom since it is open and vast with no end whatsoever. Then also the way the she describes it. She mentions that blue patches can be seen between the clouds. This symbolizes that Mrs. Mallard is seeing the advantages of her husband’s death. It also symbolizes her freedom. Even though she may now have some freedom she doesn’t have the absolute freedom that a white male has at that era.
This statement is also represented in this next line.
She said it over and over under her under her breath: “free, free, free!”
The reason she said it under her breath because it will be dangerous to say such at statement aloud.
She also repeats the word free over and over again. The author does this to emphasize her freedom.
The author also uses syntax by adding an exclamation point by doing this she is again emphasizing her point of the sudden freedom. It is also revealed that the character didn’t her husband. With all of this evidence it is proven that that Mrs. Mallard’s death was the disappointment of finding out that she he husband was alive. Why? It is because what Mrs. Mallard really wanted was the power to govern her own and life and not let anybody else do it for her.