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One of the most surprising things for me in these readings was the portrayal of how peoples attitudes changed when they perceived someone as inferior or different. This idea is aptly depicted in the story A very old man with enormous wings, where the main characters begin to treat angel shamefully once they become wealthy and independent. The same idea goes through Amy Tans Mother tongue , where Tans mother encounters all sorts of difficulties due to her broken English (Tan, 1990). The idea that people can be unconsciously cruel to those individuals who are somewhat not like them features the dark side of human nature and the one people should learn to control.
The second surprise was the perception of mans and womans roles in society. The idea that a man is free in his many decisions while a woman is primarily seen as mother and wife was rather surprising. This idea is aptly portrayed in The story of an hour. To think of it, it is true that societal expectations play a more important role in a womans life. People subconsciously label women on the basis of their personal life, while men are more often judged by their position in society. Notwithstanding the fact that today this perception changes, women are still primarily seen as less successful in business than men. The other surprise was that society might cloud a persons judgment by pieces of irrelevant information, as in Where I lived and what I lived for. The idea that individuals can feel better once they have a chance to go beyond societal expectations, as in The story of an hour, was quite shocking. Finally, the idea that people can feel trapped in seemingly comfortable surroundings, but those imposed by society, was quite revealing.
In The story of an hour, the author aptly uses characterization techniques to bring her idea home to the reader. This characterization takes place in two lines: interior and exterior. In exterior settings, Chopin depicts that the husband was free to go and come as he pleased, while his wife was mainly confined at home as in prison. The womens interior feelings are portrayed as going from grief to relief (The story of an hour by Kate Chopin). From Tans mother tongue, we learn that there is no feeling of superiority over people who are somehow different in Chinese culture. Not to see the story through the Western eyes, we should try to strip ourselves from this superiority feeling.
References
Tan, A. (1990). Mother tongue. The Threepenny Review, 43(7). The story of an hour by Kate Chopin. Web.
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