Summary

            The main characters in the story are Calixta and Alcee, Calixta who is Binot’s wife and Bibi’s mother. Alcee is an old acquaintance of Calixta, who stops by at Calixta home for the storm to pass but Binoti and Bibi are not at home and Calixta is worried about them. Alcee starts kissing Calixta driven by a desire for her, and later on they make love. When the storm passes Alcee leaves and Bibi and Binoti arrive and she is happy to see them. Then Alcee writes a letter to his wife telling her he is missing her and she will be glad to see her home soon.

Review

The storm, a story written by Kate Chopin whose views and ideas were way ahead of her time, considering the story occurred in the late 1800s and took place in the Deep South. She was a feminist as her ideas on sexuality went beyond the norms and expectations of the society in those days.

Chopin does a great job trying to express her ideas on human sexuality in a time when women were just seen as sex tools for men and supposed to behave “properly.” Women were not supposed to express their sexual desires; or rather they did not have them at all, making this story fulfill its purpose on the theme of sexuality.

Kate dares to bring out other themes such as liberation, freedom, and passion in the story. After reading the story, I realized Kate uses the storm to reflect the encounter between Alcee and Calixta. The storm symbolizes their affair, when thestorm is about to arrive, Alcee is also about to arrive at Calixta’s home. When the storm begins they even start getting close to each other, where they sleep together and finally when the storm passes and it is calm so does Alcee leave and leaves Calixta at calm.

Kate brings out the liberation theme by Calixta feeling liberated after having sex with Alcee who met her sexual desires, which were not fulfilled by her husband, Bobinot. Kate shows her writing skills by using color white to symbolize passion by referring to the “white neck,” “white breast” and “white throat.” Something else I love about the story is that the narrator remains neutral the whole time leaving it to the reader to decide, is the affair right or wrong.

One interesting fact is Kate’s view on marriage, instead of the affair harming their marriages the affair brings them closer to their spouses, breaking the well-known cliché. She achieves her goals in the story and makes the story exciting and unpredictable. It is a story I can refer my friends to read, considering the content and the time it was written.

Reference

Chopin, K. (1916). The Storm.

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