sband and gained her freedom. The joy she feels as a result of his death is compelling, and she feels "free, free, free" (paragraph 11). Again, a third person narrator is responsible for relaying the story, but in this story Chopin creates a more sympathetic and involved situation between the reader and Mrs. Mallard than Bierce does in "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge." The narrator successfully creates a tone of sympathy for her because Mrs. Mallard's struggle is an internal one between love and freedom. "What could lovecount for in the face of this possession of self-assertion which she suddenly recognized as the strongest impulse of her being" (paragraph 15). The narrator's point of view results in a more meaningful and compassionate connection for the reader with Mrs. Mallard rather than a penetrating analysis of her feelings. The details of her reaction to her husband's death create an affectionate tone. "There would be no powerful will bending hers in that blind persistence with which men and women believe that they have a right to impose a private will upon a fellow creature" (paragraph 14). The reader is pleased that she has escaped the oppression and suffering of her marriage. As it does not to Mrs. Mallard, it does not occur to the reader to question the disregard of conventional grief displayed by her feelings. "She did not stop to ask if it were or were not a monstrous joy that held her" paragraph 12). The reader simply begins to feel akin with the joy Mrs. Mallard feels as a result of her new situation.Similarly, each of these works ends with the death of the main character. The hanging in "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" kills Farquhar and in "The Story of an Hour," Mrs. Mallard dies of "heart disease", though not for the reason thought by the doctors. "When the doctors came they said she had died of heart disease - of joy that kills" (Paragraph 23). The reader knows that it was shock at finding her husband...
