Analyzing Theme in The Storm

(by Lania Ermawati, Rina Watini, Susilawati )

Theme is prime element of literature, which contains the central idea of all literary forms such as a novel, drama and short story. It reflects innocence, experience, life, death, reality, fate, madness, sanity, love, society, individual, etc. Thus, it reflects the society as a whole. Likewise, in a drama, theme represents the brief idea of the drama. Theme is a statement, or series of related observations, about some aspect of the human condition, interpreted from the unique viewpoint of the author.

Sometimes the theme can be discovered by reading through the work and looking for topics that show up again and again. Analysis of theme involves working the concept, thought, opinion or belief that the author expresses. It is very common (and helpful) to consider theme when analyzing another aspect of literature rather than on its own. The theme of a work is the main message, insight, or observation the writer offers.

The importance of theme in literature can be overestimated; the work of fiction is more than just the theme. However, the theme allows the author to control or give order to his perceptions about life.

Remember that the theme of a work of literature is the comment that the author makes about his subject matter, a revelation about the behavior of human beings or the conduct of society; an insight into the human condition.

Remember that the theme is the insight we gain from thinking about what we have read. To determine the theme of a work of literature, first identify and be able to thoroughly describe the major elements of that work:

• plot
• characterizations
• point of view
• setting
• patterns, symbols, any recurring images

Analysis

The main theme arises from “nonchalant attitude toward infidelity in a marriage.” There is another theme in short story “The storm”, the theme is “forbidden love” and “a woman who follows sexual desires.” Chopin begins to illustrate this sexual restraint of the time by using the title “The Storm.” In Kate Chopin's story "The Storm," sex is a crucial part of the story. In literary terms, a storm tends to be associated with conflict, uneasiness, and turmoil. Chopin uses the image of the storm to represent the sexual tension that builds throughout the story between Alcee and Calixta. Issues that seem to be raising include:

• Roles of Love and Sex in Marriage
• Women’s Sexuality
• Honesty
• Guilt/Lack of Guilt

The image of the storm will be returned to again and again throughout the story. Chopin begins using the illustration of the storm with Calixta’s husband, Bobinot. Bobinot decides to wait out a storm at the general store with their son, Bibi. This waiting out or avoidance of the storm suggests that Bobinot also avoids the stormy passions that his wife is clearly capable of.

Next, Chopin continues using the illustration of the storm with Christ. Like a storm, Calixta began as quiet, calm and unthreatening to man. But as her passion began to brew, she became electric and powerful; a force driven by nature, as inept at controlling her own desires as a storm is at controlling the damage it leaves in its path. Examine the following passage:

“Her lips were as red and moist as pomegranate seed. Her white neck and a glimpse of her full, firm bosom disturbed him powerfully. As she glanced up at him the fear in her liquid blue eyes had given place to a drowsy gleam that unconsciously betrayed a sensuous desire. He looked down into her eyes and there was nothing for him to do but to gather her lips in a kiss.”

The characters of the storm allow Chopin to create her own scenario in which she can express her views. The main characters of "The Storm" are Calixta and Alcee. The pair is forced together by the titular storm. Trapped together in Calixta's house, they engage in sex. In the story, Alcee mentions that he was always unable to follow through with his desires for Calixta. Calixta is a woman who is repressed and tied to her husband. When she lets go of her inhibitions, she finds herself refreshed and happy. This is in accordance with Chopin's ideas that marriage is a constricting tradition that eliminates the free will of both participants. However, Alcee is longing for a relationship because he is separated from his wife. When Alcee and Calixta have their adulterous affair, Alcee's feeling of loneliness leaves. He finds himself soothed and comforted. It is in these two characters that Chopin expresses the idea that adultery is not a harmful act, but instead is an act that can serve as a change of pace for an individual who is feeling dreariness in their life due to the monotony of marriage. This story takes place in the small town in Louisiana where all the characters live. A small fraction of the action takes place at Friedheimer's store, Alcée's house.

Chopin uses many of Calixta’s actions in “The Storm” to represent the sexual restraint of the time. Perhaps one of the best examples of this occurs when Calixta is doing housework. Up until Alcee arrives at the house, Calixta is working with much vigor and frustration. Calixta has some clothes that are hanging out to dry on the porch and, after Alcee arrives, they are in danger of blowing away from the strong winds that are approaching with the storm.

In the short story “The Storm”, Kate Chopin conveys complex emotional conflict in very few words.  The conflict occurs when Calixta's old lover arrives at her house just in time to be trapped there by the storm. It would be one thing if Calixta had to wait out the storm alone in the big house, worrying about her husband and small son being in danger out in the storm. But she's not alone, as soon as the storm starts, a cute guy rolls up, a guy she has a history with. That's a complication waiting to happen. The storm brings Calixta and Alcee together and they have an affair. A storm can mean many things, both good and bad, and it is important to the story symbolically.

The storm is the largest piece of symbolism in the story. The storm represents two things. First and foremost, it represents Alcee and the passionate moment with Calixta. Just as the storm came, rained, and left in a matter of moments, so did Alcee. Alcee arrived, initiated the sex with Calixta, and left. The second theme that the storm represented was the scorn that Bobinot and Clarisse would have for Calixta and Alcee if the affair was ever discovered. The story tells us that the actual storm passed by without doing any real damage, leaving the city as it had been before the storm. This parallels the fact that neither Bobinot nor Clarisse found out, and that the marriage continued on as usual. Chopin also uses symbols and characterization to her advantage. The themes of "The Storm" tie in with the characters and symbols to allow Chopin to express her opinion on sexuality and marriage.

The storm is used as a symbol and it is through her rich use of language in describing the storm that Chopin is able to convey the emotion of her characters. When the storm ends, it symbolizes the end of the affair. We are never told what Chopin meant by the title The Storm. The most obvious is that it is referring to the actual, physical storm. But she could have intended it to represent the symbolic storm that is taking place in the characters. The physical storm is used in the beginning to foreshadow the events that follow. 

The storm can also be thought to represent how an affair can affect a marriage. A storm can mean change, and an affair will obviously change a marriage. When the author describes the affair she says, they did not head the crashing torrents, which symbolizes that they did not care about the affects their affair would have. Storms are either good or bad. It depends on how, when, and by whom it is viewed. Cophin’s title refers to nature, which is symbolically feminine; the storm can therefore be seen as symbolic of feminine sexuality and passion. The story ends with the quote "So the storm passed and every one was happy," symbolizing Calixta and Alcée were happy to have the affair.

In conclusion, Chopin used the theme of a storm to tell a story that allows her to express her views on marriage and sexuality. While the ideas Chopin expressed are what could be considered "feminist" today, she argues that marriage is constricting to both sexes, and that untraditional and even taboo sexual practices can be liberating.