Written by Huynh Sam Nghi - av30 QL1

"Joy that kills" seemed to be an unsettled debate. In your own stand, how would you interpret this expression?

“Joy That Kills” – The Joy of Freedom and the Joy of Release

Kate Chopin was described as a famous writer for female. Most of her masterpieces reflected the life of women in the society of late-19^th century in which women were merely a wife and a housewife, no more, no less. It means that women at that time were expected to keep house, cook, bear and rear children. They have no right in the society. And “The Story of an hour” reflected the repression of women in a male-dominated society. The last expression in the story – “Joy that kills”- seem to be an unsettled debate. In my own stand, joy in “Joy that kills” is the joy of freedom and the joy of release.

Firstly, the joy here may be the joy of freedom. To Mrs. Mallard, to be free from her husband is an utmost joy. When hearing the news of his husband’s death, Mrs. Mallard wept at once. Then she locked herself in the room and would let no one in. In her room, she looked out the window and she noticed things that she had never noticed before. Normally, when people feel sad, everything around them is not happy either. But how strange it is! Here the scenery seems to be eventful and happy. “The tops of trees that were all aquiver with the new spring life”. “The breath of rain” in the air was also delicious. She also heard the cry of the peddler, the note of a distant song, the twitter of countless sparrows. All of these seem not to be the sign of the death. They are the joy of the freedom. She feels relieved from her former lifestyle in which his husband has been present. Louise’s state of mind which was changing within her was mirrored by what she saw. When she realized her freedom, the sky cleared up. What happens outside the window parallels what is occurring to Louise. Then why was she so joyful when her husband died? Even though the story did not have any detail which showed Louise’s marriage, we all believed that she did not have a happy marriage. Thus when receiving the bad news of his husband’s death, she felt happy and reviviscent. She would be free - free from the body to the soul - after the death of her husband. Since then “there would be no one to live for during those coming years; she would live for herself. There would be no powerful will bending hers in that blind persistence with which men and women believe they have a right to impose a private will upon a fellow-creature”. As the birds which have just been got out of the cage, Louise feels very free and joyful. The hope of freedom seems to reach the pitch and now it comes true. “There was a feverish triumph in her eyes and she carried herself unwittingly like a goddess of Victory”. However, the more people hope the more disappointed they are. It is the hope of freedom making Louise’s life bright. Yet the hope of freedom now becomes the double-edged knife killing her. Thus, the joy of freedom is the culprit causing the death of Louise.

Moreover, joy - “joy that kills” – is the happiness of release. As I mentioned above, Louise’s marriage may be so affected. She was exhausted. The physical exhaustion haunted her body and seemed to be reach into her soul. She had the chance of a lifetime to escape from it. That is the death of her husband. Nevertheless, she could not because her husband “had been far from the scene of accident, and did not even know there had been one”. When she could not free from the stuffy marriage, the death must be an ideal exit for her. Death is release. She chose the death to release her life from her marriage particularly from her husband. She felt joyful because after the death she could go to a place where she could find some joy and the chance of freedom.

In conclusion, each person has his own feeling about the death of Louise. Some think that she dies because of the happiness as the doctor’s statement. The others think that her death was caused by the sadness, disappointment or shock. To me, she died because of freedom and the happiness of release. In fact, no one knows exactly the reason of the death in the short story “The Story of an Hour” except Kate Chopin and Louise. And the last expression is not closed but let readers think more.