Short Story Essay Thesis- Omri Shafir

For my short story essay I plan to look at the three short stories, “The Story of an Hour”, “Desiree’s Baby” and “The Necklace”.  I will be looking at how a dramatic turning point or climax that seems so devastating at first can truly be devastating in one case (“Desiree’s Baby”) while possibly a blessing in disguise in other cases (The other two, with “The Story of an Hour” being much more of a mixed situation). I will try to see how certain aspects of the different female characters affect the way these distressing climaxes affected their final moments within each story. I will especially be looking at the theme of identity and familial history (or lack-thereof) and how the way each of the three female characters viewed themselves affected the way they viewed the devastating situations that befall them.