The stories required for reading by Kate Chopin are "Desiree's Baby" and "The Story of an Hour". In reading "Desiree's Baby" the first thing I notice is the blurring of race lines. The face of the characters is not explicitly said though the last sentence of the story clearing gives the race of the male protagonist. Also in this story unlike many of Chopin's other stories the conflict is not about the wife trying to juggle freedom versus martial status. It is more so a story of the male protagonist fighting a battle within himself about his race. Which brings up my question of why Chopin had this conflict and why did she end the story in such a way that no conflict seems resolved?
In reading "The Story of an Hour" this story returns to the more common concept of the wife's conflict with her freedom in marriage. However, the story creates an appearance as though a wife cannot possibly be happy while in a marriage because the will of the husband will always be imposed upon the wife.
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