The Things They Carried Example Essay Example

In a time when women were expected to prioritize serving their families, being unable to have children or fit into the traditional wife role represents Louise's dissatisfaction. She reveals her discontent with both her marriage and society's expectations for women by confessing doubt about whether she truly loved her husband, despite past affection.

Similar to numerous women during her time, Louise disliked the limiting and oppressive aspects of marriage and societal expectations imposed on her. The demise of her spouse granted her a feeling of rejuvenation, liberating her from the constraints of social conventions. In her chamber, she observes the tree tops shaking with fresh spring vitality, symbolizing the new existence and liberty she obtained as a widow.

Louise, like many women in an era that prescribed a traditional housewife role, struggled with the demands of marriage. In "The Story of an Hour", Louise's enthusiasm for an opportunity to start anew without having to submit to male oppression is both symbolic and literal. Ironically, when Louise's apparently unharmed husband returns home, it is Louise who meets her demise. This represents the ultimate escape from masculine oppression presented in the story, implying that death was Louise's only way out of her unhappiness. In death, Louise finally found the freedom that a life of discontent could never offer her.