The Storm - Short Story

In the short story "The Storm", the storm is continuously personified throughout the piece of literature. Many of the characters can be analyzed for better understanding, but the big character that should be considered is the storm itself. The storm puts Calixta and Alcee in a certain situation. By doing this, this character is able to symbolize many aspects of marriage and happiness.

At the beginning of the story, Calixta is left alone at home while Bibi and Bobinot go to the store. She closed up the house and was preparing for the storm when Alcee rode up. The rain starts coming down hard when they are on the porch, forcing them inside the house and leading to the future affair. The storm was motivated to make this happen in order to settle past love and appreciate the present.

Another symbolic piece of the story was when Calixta looked outside but could see nothing through the thick sheets of rain. This could represent that she may possibly be losing the sight of her marriage. The storm is trying to show Calixta that if she looks closely and tries hard enough, she can fix her marriage and be happy again.

After everything is done, the sky opens up, the sun shines through and Calixta and Alcee part ways. They are both much happier, and that happiness is reflected by their actions in the rest of the story. Calixta embraces Bibi and Boninot when they return home and she is much happier with their marriage.

During the storm, there was darkness and terrible conditions; this ties to the secrecy and terrible events that occurred between Calixta and Alcee. After the storm, everything was open, bright, and full of life. The relationships between Calixta and Alcee's spouses were also filled with a little more happiness and life. The storm played a big part in this story. It was not only just a contributing factor to causing the affair but it ties back to everything that happened and is a perfect symbol for those events.