“The Storm” written by Kate Chopin starts off with Bibi at a local store called Friedheimer’s with his father Bibinot. Bibi and Bibinot notice that there is a storm on the way, so Bibinot lets his son know that his mom, Calixta, will be okay during the storm. Bibinot and Bibi decide to stay at the store and wait patiently for the storm to pass through them. Meanwhile, Calixta is at home and does not even notice that the storm was coming in. Once she finally realizes the storm is coming, she goes around the house shutting the windows and doors.
As she is preparing herself for the storm, she sees an old lover of hers, Alcee. Calixta allows Alcee to come into the house, so he is not outside during the storm. Alcee comforts Calixta with nice comforting words during the storm and ends up kissing Calixta. By the end of the storm, Alcee and Calixta have made love on the couch, and then he leaves once the storm is over. Calixta makes sure Bibi and Bibinot are okay when they arrive after the storm. Later that night, Alcee writes to his wife telling her to stay in Biloxi with the children as long as she needs to.
Alcee’s wife is very excited and happy when she receives his letter. Kate Chopin finishes the story by stating that everybody is happy now that the storm has passed. The way Kate Chopin uses the characters in “The Storm” as symbols are a good way to tell the different abstract meanings behind the story. Symbolism is one of the most used literary devices that are used throughout the entire short story, “The Storm”. The many different symbols that are in the story may represent many different things. Even one character could represent different symbols depending on the time and place during the story.
Kate Chopin does a great job implementing symbols throughout her story by using her characters to represent different concepts of ideas. One of the clearest symbols throughout the short story involves Calixta and her own beauty. Once Calixta realizes the storm is on its way, she goes outside to retrieve her clothes that are out there drying. She then notices a previous love of hers, Alcee. While they are both in the house waiting out the storm, Alcee and Calixta’s love for each other start to come back once again.
Alcee has always known how beautiful Calixta is and her beauty in the story is symbolized by a lilly, “Her firm, elastic flesh that was knowing for the first time its birthright, was like creamy lily that the sun invites to contribute its breath and perfume to the undying life of the world” (Chopin, 272). Alcee has had a previous love relationship with Calixta, and being alone with her once again is one the ways their love starts to come out again. The comparison between the lily and Calixta is used because “Chopin uses the lily to express Calixta’s beauty” (Baker).
A flower is always one the prettiest things in the world we live in today, and when Calixta is compared to a flower, the flower symbolizes how pretty she is. However, the lily that symbolizes Calixta’s beauty is not the only symbol that involves Calixta throughout the story. The actual storm that is occurring during the story plays an enormous part because it is the main cause for a lot of the actions and events that take place throughout the short story. Kate Chopin uses the storm itself very well to convey her different ideas going on in the story.
If it was not for the storm taking place, many of the actions that are being done because of the storm would not have been done. One of the key actions that shape up the entire story is between Calixta and Alcee. The storm is able to symbolize the concept and idea going on between Calixta and Alcee. Kate Chopin uses the storm because “Sexuality is explored in “The Storm” through the tryst enjoyed by Calixta and Alcee and is symbolized by the storm that occurs in the story” (Mile, 291). During the duration of the storm, Calixta and Alcee end up kissing and making love on the couch in Calixta’s house.
This is the sexuality that is going on between the two characters. Kate Chopin uses the storm as a protagonist because the storm is the reason why Calixta commits adultery with Alcee. Without the storm, there is no sexuality going on between the Calixta and Alcee. The storm is a very well put together symbol that allows readers to realize that the storm symbolizes sexuality. Kate Chopin has used Calixta to symbolize a few concepts throughout the story, but her son Bibi is used very well to symbolize a different idea going on in the story.
Bibi is the son that Calixta and Bibinot have had together. Calixta and Bibinot are married, and are deeply in love with each other because there is always worry about one another throughout the entire story. At the beginning of the story, Bibi and Bibinot worry if Calixta will be okay during the storm, and Calixta worries about the same issue for Bibi and Bibinot. There is obviously some love between the two because of their actions and worries for one another, yet Kate Chopin is clever enough to use someone that is able to symbolize the love between Calixta and Bibinot.
Bibi is being mentioned at the beginning of the story because “Bibi’s presence at the opening is significant because, as anew addition to the four main personalities of the previous story, he symbolizes the marriage and the mutual commitment and trust it should imply” (Berkove). When Calixta and Bibinot agreed to get married, they probably also decided to have kids to raise themselves. Bibi is a symbol of love between the two parents. The willingness and commitment it takes to care for a child is very high, so Calixta and Bibinot agreed to take their marriage and commitment to one another level by having a child together.
Bibi is the perfect example of a symbol that symbolizes love, trust, and commitment between Calixta and Bibinot. Bibi though is not the only male that is used in this story as a symbol. Alcee may be the person readers may dislike out of all of the characters in “The Storm. ” He is the one that initiates the sexual tension between him and Calixta. He knows Calixta is moved on and married to Bibinot with a child, but that still does not stop him from getting Calixta to commit adultery. However, there is a good side of Alcee that is showed before the storm arrives at Calixta’s house.
The way Alcee shows up to Calixta’s house is a very important detailed information because “In connection with Alcee we are presented with such male symbols as the hours” (Koloski, 145). Back in the day over a hundred of years ago when this story was written, proper men and gentlemen road on horses. Riding a horse was common characteristic of good well suited man. Before he goes inside with Calixta to wait out the storm, he helps her carry in some of the clothes that are being dried outside.
One of the clothing is Bibinot’s shorts, and he is gladly to help Calixta take Bibinot’s clothing in even though he intends on making love with Calixta instead of her own husband doing so. These events and actions that happen before Alcee goes inside with Calixta shows how much a gentlemen and a proper man he is. The horse he rides in on clearly is a symbol to symbolize the well suited man Alcee is along with his actions of helping Calixta out. Using symbols is a very good and simple way for an author to explain a certain idea or concept to their readers.
Symbols allow readers to have a connection between two certain concepts or characters and allowing it easier to understand those concepts or characters that are involved with the symbols. Calixta is a good example of a character that has multiple symbols involving her character and her actions throughout the story. Her beauty alone was symbolized by a single lily that was brought up during the story. She unfortunately made a very bad mistake of cheating on her husband with a different man, but Chopin was able to use Calixta and Alcee as a symbol of sexuality.
Bibi is the perfect symbol that symbolizes the commitment and trust there needs to be between a marriage and in this case the marriage between Calixta and Bibinot. Alcee may be a home wrecker, but he still shows some signs of being a well suited gentleman in their time period. The way he is introduced and goes about his business symbolizes the proper man figure he is. Kate Chopin does a terrific job of using her characters in “The Storm” as symbols to explain and give out certain ideas and concepts going on in her short story. The use of symbols throughout “The Storm” makes it a very interesting and understandable read for readers.
Works Cited
- MLA Format Baker, Christopher. “Chopin’s The Storm. ” The Explicator 52. 4 (1994): 225+. Literature Resource Center. Web. 5 May 2013.
- Berkove, Lawrence I. “‘Acting Like Fools’: The Ill-Fated Romances of ‘At the ‘Cadian Ball’ and ‘The Storm’. ” Critical Essays on Kate Chopin. Ed. Alice Hall Petry. New York: G. K. Hall & Co. , 1996. 184-196.
- Chopin, Kate. “The Storm” Compact Literature: Reading, Reacting, Writing. 8th ed. Ed Laurie G. Kriszner and Stephen R. Mandell. Boston: Wadsworth Cenage Learning, 2007. 234-238.
- Koloski, Bernard. “Per Seyersted on “the Storm”. ” Kate Chopin: A Study of the Short Fiction. New York: Twayne Publishers, 1996. 145-148.
- Twayne’s Studies in Short Fiction 65. Twayne’s Authors on GVRL. Web. 10 Mar. 2013. Milne, Ira Mark. “The Storm. ” Short Stories for Students. Ed. Katherine Hobbs. Vol. 26. Detroit: Gale, 2008. 286-306.
- Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 10 Mar. 2013.
