1. ASSIGNMENT
PROSE
“ANALYZE OF THE STORM”
KATE CHOPIN
BY
MUHAMMAD AL AYYUB
A1M216100
ENGLISH EDUCATION DEPARTMENT
FACULTY OF LEARNING TEACHING AND EDUCATION
HALU OLEOUNIVERSITY
KENDARI
2017
2. Title : The Strom
Author : Kate Choppin
1. Contens
a. Setting
This story takes place in the small town in Louisiana where all the
characters live. A small fraction of the action takes place at Friedheimer's
store, Alcee's house, and the house where Clarisse is vacationing, but the most
important setting is Calixta and Bobinôt's home – when Bobinot is not there.
Instead, another man comes into his domestic space and literally takes his
place in the bedroom, having sex with his wife. Alcee and Calixta are not only
trapped in the house during the storm, they almost seem forced into the
bedroom – pushed into each other's arms and then onto the bed.
The home itself isn't described that much: it has a "small front gallery"
(porch), a room that is "the dining room – the sitting room – the general utility
room", and a bedroom that holds a "white, monumental bed" and looked "dim
and mysterious" . The house gives Alcee and Calixta shelter during that storm
and allows them to be together. The storm almost seems to have more of a
presence than the house.
One thing that stands out here, of course, is the fact that the storm is
taking place during the important sexualized scene, keeping Alcée and Calixta
within the house, and Bobinôt and Bibi outside of it. When the storm
dissipates, Alcee and Calixta must go their separate ways, seemingly much
richer for their encounter. When Bobinot reenters his own home, he has no
idea of the torrid encounter that just happened there. Clarisse, too, is removed
from the main area of action – she's in another state.
3. On a larger scale, the setting reminds us of the characters' places in the world.
As the Kate Chopin International Society's site points out, there are some
subtle class differences between the four main characters represented in "The
Storm":
Alcee and his wife Clarisse are Creoles, descendants of French settlers in
Louisiana. Calixta and her husband Bobinôt are Acadians, descendants of
French-American exiles from Acadia, Nova Scotia. (source)
Even though they all shared French ancestry, the Creoles and Acadians
maintained strict social boundaries and class differences during this time. The
Creole characters, Alcée and Clarisse, are of a higher class than the Acadians,
Calixta and Bobinôt. Yet Calixta and Bobinôt aren't doing so badly: they can
still afford their own home. We know it's most likely not as grand as Clarisse
and Alcée's, but they make enough money to have their own space and to
employ a maid.
b. Main Caracter
- Calixta
A housewife, wife of Bobint, and mother of Bibi. She is home alone
waiting for her husband and son to return when the storm comes.
Meanwhile she experiences a passionate moment with M’sieur Laballiere.
- Alce Laballiere
Alce is is passing by Calixta’s house when the storm approaches and he
asks whether he can wait it out at her place. As Calixta addresses him
‘m'sieur' it is apparent he is of a higher social standing. During the storm
he is seized by desire for Calixta and he makes love to her. Afterwards he
goes home and writes an affectionate letter to his wife.
4. - Bobint
Calixta’s husband. He and their son Bibi get stuck at Friedheimer’s store
during the storm. After the storm passes and they are on their way home,
Bobint is preparing excuses to present his wife with as they are all muddy
and in poor state. When they arrive home, he is pleasantly surprised by the
good mood Calixta is in.
- Bibi
Son of Bobint and Calixta.
- Clarissa
Alce’s wife. During her stay at the bay she receives a letter from her
husband telling her to take her time in coming home. She can stay another
month if she wants. He misses her (and their child), but he wants her to
enjoy herself. She is happy to receive the message because she is enjoying
the first alone time since her marriage and is in no hurry to return to her
husband.
2. Point of Fiew
The point of view in The storm
- Third Person (Omniscient)
The point of view is third person narration because “she and he says or said”
is used.At the same time it is total omniscience because we know what Calixta
and Alcee think.
Evidence :
“ But she felt very warm and often stopped to mop”
( Part II, Paragraph 1, Line 2)
" So the storm passed and every one was happy “
( Part V, Last Paragraph, Line 6 ) symbolizing Calixta and Alcée were
happy to have the affair.
5. “ Oh! she remembered; for in Assumption he had kissed her “
( Part II, Paragraph 18, Line 1)
3. Plot
Conflict
Calixta's old lover arrives at her house just in time to be trapped there
by the storm.
It would be one thing if Calixta had to wait out the storm alone in the
big house, worrying about her husband and small son being in danger
out in the storm. But she's not alone: as soon as the storm starts, a cute
guy rolls up – a guy she has a history with. That's a complication
waiting to happen!
Climax
Calixta and Alcee have sex.
We realize that putting this scene in this category is a bad pun waiting
to happen. It's impossible to avoid, though, since this is the most
exciting part of the story, the part where the characters are either
approaching or coming down from their high point. Both the story and
the characters reach their high points at the same time here. It's rare
that this element of the plot is played out so literally in fiction, but it
happens from time to time.
Conclusion
Everyone benefits from the affair, and no one finds out about it.
The story is thus neatly tied up in a bow. No one's going to find out
about all the action that just happened. Alcée and Calixta's secret is
officially safe, dissipating just as the storm itself has. Whether the
other characters suspect some change is a separate issue. At the ending
of the story, everything is fine.
6. The main theme arises from “nonchalant attitude toward infidelity in a
marriage.” There is another theme in short story “The storm”, the
theme is “forbidden love” and “a woman who follows sexual desires.”
Chopin begins to illustrate this sexual restraint of the time by using the
title “The Storm.” In Kate Chopin's story "The Storm," sex is a crucial
part of the story. In literary terms, a storm tends to be associated with
conflict, uneasiness, and turmoil. Chopin uses the image of the storm
to represent the sexual tension that builds throughout the story
between Alcee and Calixta. Issues that seem to be raising include:
- Roles of Love and Sex in Marriage
- Women’s Sexuality
- Honesty
- Guilt/Lack of Guilt
4. Language
a. Tone
The narrator's tone in this story is one of enabling encouragement. The
voice we hear seems almost to be encouraging the characters in their
decisions to have affairs and keep them secret, or to even bring people
together through the almost magical power of the cyclone that's raging
around them.
The tone seems to sympathize with the fact that Alcée and Calixta's
affair can only last as long as the storm itself: that when it ends they must
part rather than falling asleep together. When each character enters the
story to speak or share his or her ideas, the tone melds around that person
and provides sympathy for that point of view. Bibi's concern, Bobinôt's
worry, Calixta's desire, Alcee's graceful deceit, and Clarisse's relief are all
conveyed with equal measure. The tone presents them all as equally valid
ways of approaching the world.
7. b. Allision
Literary References
- Kate Chopin, "At the 'Cadian Ball," implied throughout
Biblical References
- The Virgin Mary (see "Symbolism: Assumption")
5. Relate The Storm in the real life
In Kate Chopin's story, the literal storm of turbulent weather parallels the
figurative storm of human emotion. Interestingly, both storms have been
brewing for a time. In a previous story with which "The Storm" is paired--"At
the 'Cadian Ball"--passions have been stirred to stormy levels between the
Acadian beauty, Calixta, and the wealthy, upper-class Creole, Alceé.
However, before anything happens between the two, the equally lovely
Clarisse, who is of Alceé's social class.
