English 12 Short story personal response for The Locket,...

English 12: Short story personal response for The Locket, by Kate Chopin In the lives of many people, certain items have held great importance in those lives due to their association with elements that has an significant, if not symbolic effect on their lives, such as association with past memories, events, or people. The locket presented in The Locket by Kate Chopin is one that binds the themes of love, loss, the chaos of war together throughout the entire story. I believe that the locket is symbolic the motif of love in part I, and loss in part II of the story separately, this is due to shift in focus of the characters from Edmond to Octavie in the story, and the relative situation and circumstance presented in each section. I believe†¦show more content†¦Thus the locket act as a bond for Edmond and Octavie to the world of the living, as Edmond tries his best to survive, and Octavie remains hopeful, and as both are pained by the separation of the parting as expressed in the flash back, and this separation is not just the physical separation, b ut also of the emotional as Edmond has gone off to war, a terrible deluge that has split families and consumed many lives. At the end of part I, in the ensuing chaotic battle and retreat, the locket is found to be on the body of a dead boy. It is here that I believe the theme of war plays on the motif of loss, as it is inferred that this boy, whomever he was, even though it is hinted to be Edmond due to the presence of the locket on him, died in the battle, which was described by Chopin as â€Å"a scramble and a rush rather than any regulated movement† (P. 4, L. 2, Page 154). The battle, described as chaotic, is inferred to have caused to death of this boy, who the audience, the priest and later Octavie presumes to be Edmond. The significance is that the chaos of war caused the loss, as it kills â€Å"Edmond†, also causing Octavie to grieve in part II, thus showing the far reaching effects of the war in the lives of people. In part II, the motif of loss appears in full flesh as Octavie now appears in full mourning outfit, described as appearing