Journal Entry #2

Vanessa

Enter Name of the Instructor

English

28 December 2019.

Journal Entry #2

“The Storm” is one of my favorite short stories. If one has not read “At the Cadian Ball” it might then become difficult to understand the pretext about The Storm. In this story, the storm is the main character that acts as a catalyst to get the other characters to act. If one looks carefully, he can see the storm and the characters parallel to each other. The characters had a short love affair before they get married to other people. The storm gives them a reason to be alone together and consummate their passion ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"eQWgKeOx","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Ewell and Chopion)","plainCitation":"(Ewell and Chopion)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":156,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/8reWiRZH/items/3T4JIN88"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/8reWiRZH/items/3T4JIN88"],"itemData":{"id":156,"type":"book","publisher":"Ungar Publishing Company","source":"Google Scholar","title":"Kate Chopin","author":[{"family":"Ewell","given":"Barbara C."},{"family":"Chopion","given":"Kate"}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["1986"]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (Ewell and Chopion). The hardest part one has to understand is that there are no consequences at the end. The things Kate had been referring to in her story are unnatural and invite pleasure for a short time. Throughout the story, Chopin had referred to Storm, to make her characters meet and to perform what is normally known as the extra-marital affair.

As I had been a thorough reading of this story, and have experienced things taking a negative trajectory, but in this story, this affair was exaggeratedly and unnaturally created. The meet up of Alcee and Claxita was initiated by referring to a storm. Their interaction at an indoor place, depict that things had to go the trajectory, which a reader can think prior to the characters being so passionate. Baker writes that the storm in her play was nothing and just the depiction of things that are unnatural ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"ufheBo23","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Baker)","plainCitation":"(Baker)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":155,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/8reWiRZH/items/YGCL92NY"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/8reWiRZH/items/YGCL92NY"],"itemData":{"id":155,"type":"article-journal","container-title":"The explicator","issue":"4","page":"225–226","source":"Google Scholar","title":"Chopin's the Storm","volume":"52","author":[{"family":"Baker","given":"Christopher"}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["1994"]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (Baker). Though a storm is a natural thing, for Claxita and Alcee, it is nothing but joy and fullness of some unnatural and untimely wants. I think the long term impact of such encounters in real life is heart ricking. One who had been involved in the non- marital affairs cannot enjoy the feel, which is the ultimate pleasure one seeks while being in the relationship.

Chopin has avoided portraying the repercussions of the storm, for an unfortunate fact, which is that such storms are reality. We cannot witness, these things happenings, because it requires extra faith over the partner. The readers of this story know that the silence which is followed by the storm is calmer and more peaceful. I think the same is true, in our personal experiences. This calmness and quietness are more soothing, yet disastrous. As the storm destroys the internal structures of houses and societies, similar is the case with this unnatural want, which destroys the lives and relations. I think Chopin’s illustration of the storm with Alcee and Claxita’s meet up is beautiful. I opine that Chopin had avoided mentioning the repercussions of this meet up in the story, because these extra-marital things are so private, and no one shares and likes to talk about these activities. This aspect has also added to the beauty of Kate Chopin’s ‘The Storm’. Chopin had made the storm a reason to illustrate the experience of realness and the irrationality at the same time.

Works Cited:

ADDIN ZOTERO_BIBL {"uncited":[],"omitted":[],"custom":[]} CSL_BIBLIOGRAPHY Baker, Christopher. “Chopin’s the Storm.” The Explicator, vol. 52, no. 4, 1994, pp. 225–226.

Ewell, Barbara C., and Kate Chopion. Kate Chopin. Ungar Publishing Company, 1986.