The Death of Freedom in The Story of an Hour In Kate Chopin's story, "The Story of an Hour", we it is said that Mrs. Mallard, the main character, has a heart problem. Then Mrs. Mallard's sister Josephine tells her that Mr. Mallard died in a train wreck. At the end of the story, Mrs. Mallard dies when her husband suddenly walks through the door. The doctor says that Mrs. Mallard died “of heart disease, of joy that kills” (Chopin 27). Some people might agree with the doctor's diagnosis, but I think he was wrong. I believe that Mrs. Mallard's death did not occur because she was happy to see her husband, but because she was sad at the loss of her newfound freedom. I also think that Mrs. Mallard understood that love is no substitute for the freedom to live your life. In this short story there are examples that show how Mrs. Mallard's actions and ideas are focused on her freedom. There are also thoughts and ideas that show that Mrs. Mallard realizes that love is no substitute for independence at all. When Mrs. Mallard was told of her husband's death, she "did not hear the story as many women have heard the same thing, with a paralyzed inability to accept its meaning" (Chopin 25). This shows that Mrs Mallard was not completely distressed, otherwise she would have had this so-called "glassy look". She also didn't deny her husband's death, which is another natural reaction to losing someone you care deeply about. After Mrs. Mallard is informed of her husband's death, she retreats to her bedroom. The scenario outside is not that of death, but of life. Thus Chopin describes the scene as Mrs. Mallard looks out of her bedroom window: “she could see in the open square in front of her house the tops of tr...... middle of paper......Mrs. Mallard's husband walks in through the front door. She looks at her husband, but all she can see is the newfound freedom slipping away. Can you imagine the loss of something like your freedom that she had just realized she had lost her independence, when it was taken away suddenly. I think the loss of independence can be fatal, and in Mrs. Mallard's case it was that kills now". I hope you can see, as clearly as I do, that Mrs. Mallard did not die of joy that kills, but of the loss of this mighty thing we call freedom. Works Cited Chopin, Kate "The Story of a now." Anthology of Fiction. NY: HarperCollins, 1991. 25-27. Skaggs, Peggy "Story Criticism Ed. Thomas Votteler Vol.