最新The Storm 小说分析资料

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The Storm

Kate Chopin

I. Plot:

The leaves were so still that even Bibi thought it was going to rain

strongly. Bibi and his father decided to remain at Friedheimer’s store till the

storm had passed. Bibi worried about his mother, Calixta. His father purchased

a can of shrimps which Bibi’s mother likes. Then Bibi laid his little hand on

his father’s knee and was not afraid. His mother, at home, was greatly

occupied in sewing and did not notice the approaching storm until it grew

dark. She saw Alcée Laballière at the gate when she hastened out to gather

clothes.

“May I come and wait on your gallery till the storm is over, Calixta?” he

asked. Calixta permitted.

The water beat in upon the boards in driving sheets. So, he went inside,

closing the door after him and put something beneath the door to keep the

water out. Then Calixta rolled up a piece of bagging and Alcée helped her.

She was still beautiful like five years before when she married. They were in

the dining room -- the sitting room -- the general utility room. Alcée flung

himself into a rocker and Calixta was nervous. Calixta hoped her husband and

her son remain at Friedheimer’s store and avoid the storm. She stood at the

window with a greatly disturbed look on her face. Alcée got up and joined

her at the window, looking over her shoulder. The rain was coming down and

enveloping the distant wood in a gray mist. A lighting struck a tall tree at the

edge of the field. Claixta put her hands to her eyes, and with a cry, staggered

backward. Alcées’s arm encircled her. Claixta worried about her son.

Alcée

comfort her and clasped her shoulders and looked into her face. The contact

aroused all the old-time infatuation and desire for her flesh. He looked down

into her eyes and gather her lips in a kiss. It reminded him of Assumption.

Claixta also remembered. Later, she lay upon the couch. The generous abundance of her passion, without guile or trickery. He stayed cushioned upon her,

breathless, dazed, enervated, with his heart beating like hammer upon her.

Gradually, the rain was over.

Alcée ride away. Her husband and son was trudging home. They stopped to

clean the dirt on their clothes and think about explanation to his wife. They

entered cautiously at the back door. Calixta was preparing supper. She sprang

up as they came in. She had clasped Bibi and kissed him effusively. He seemed to express nothing but satisfaction at their safe return. Bobint gave Calixta

the shrimps. She was happy and gave him a smacking kiss on the cheek.

They relaxed happily. At that night, Alcée wrote to his wife, Clarissea, a

loving letter, full of tender solicitude.

So the storm passed and everyone was happy.

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II. Point of view:

Third person point of view

III. Character:

1. Bibi: He is a little child. When it was going to rain, he worried about his

mother. We can see he is a childish and lovely boy.

2. Bibi’s father: He loves his mother and his son. In the novel, he purchased a can of shrimps that his wife likes. And before he went bake home, he stopped to clean the dirt on clothes and thought about explanation to his wife.

So, we can see that he is a hen-pecked husband. And he is considerable.

3. Bibi’s mother, Calixta: She is a woman with a little traditional chastity ideas.

From the novel, a lighting struck a tall tree and at that moment

Alcée’s

arm encircled

Calixta. But she escaped.

And she is a woman who pursuits the free sexual right and thinks little about her

husband. And also, she is a woman who will abandon traditional chastity ideas easily.

Because finally, she betrayed her husband. And moreover, she was not passive.

4. Alcée Laballière: He is hypocritical. In this novel, he have betrayed his wife. However, he

wrote his wife a love letter and showed his miss to his wife.

He is also a man without

traditional moral rules. Calixta has married to others and he

also has his own wife. But, he seduces Calixta.

IV. Setting:

The major setting of "the storm "was in the end of the 19 century and the

beginning of 20 century. Many new things began to happen in America. The storm is

a symbol of the big change of the society and also the baptism of many traditions. The

storm means the coming of women's awaking and women's movement.

V. Style:

Kate Chopin uses much irony in this short novel, such as verbal irony and structural irony, in order to conceal the fact and achieve special artistic effect. So, it is complex, confusing and difficult to grasp the writer’s ideas. About structural irony, it appears in the short novel many times. Such as, Bibi’s

father

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buy shrimps for his wife and his wife betrays him at home, Alcée goes inside without fearful and Bobinot goes home fearfully. And the most dramatic thing is that we readers have knew Alcée betrays his wife. However, he writes a

love letter to his wife that night. So, all these satirize Alcée’s hypocrisy and his wife’s naive and foolish. Then, the last paragraph of this novel is used verbal irony. After the storm passed, everyone was happy. On the contrary, it isn’t

happiness but invisible damage and cheat.

For me, I think this novel uses irony to tell readers that getting rid of traditional

moral rules and pursuing the free sexual right will bring much damage to people.

Actually, the writer is opposed to this kind of women’s movement.

VI. Theme:

Get rid of traditional moral rules and pursuit the free sexual right

VII. Symbol:

The change of interpersonal relationship causes the ethical order of the family

out - of - balance, reflects American society in the 19th century.

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