Alcee Laballiere and the Theme Term Paper

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From the narrator of the story, the readers find out that Alcee's family was unconventional in that their living arrangements are peculiar, for his wife and children chose to live in another place instead of with him. In the same manner that Calixta becomes the unconventional mother and wife to Bibo and Bobinot, respectively, Alcee has also achieved freedom by agreeing to the peculiar arrangements of his family right after he has resumed relations with Calixta.

On a nutshell, Chopin extends the message that it is only through Calixta and Alcee's unconventional relationship that their respective families have achieved happiness not only for themselves, but for the characters as well. As a minor character of the story, the author has effectively reflected in Alcee's character every ideology and belief that society holds as deviant or unconventional: his agreement to live separately with his family and his commitment to re-establishing romantic and sexual relations with Calixta, for instance.

Ironically, the story utilizes a male character to further the theme of women empowerment, particularly in Calixta's case. However, Chopin also extends the idea that her characters do not go beyond the realities they face everyday. By using Alcee as the catalyst that will drive Calixta to liberate herself sexually and emotionally, the author shows how, in order to achieve empowerment, females must not coerce but cooperate with males in order to achieve their own liberation -- not only from the society, but from the constraints that they themselves have put upon.

Thus, the theme of unconventionality gives way to the second point enumerated earlier, wherein Alcee becomes the catalyst that empowered Calixta and serves as the epitome of unconventionality in his society.

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Alcee's function in the short story becomes more manifest when he is compared with Calixta's husband, Bobinot, who is remarkably created as Alcee's anti-thesis in that the former embodies everything that characterizes the conservative society they live in.

Bobinot's character is the stereotypical father and husband, whose concern for his wife presents a dilemma that justifies the argument why Calixta and Alcee's relationship are not only disagreeable, but also unfair to Bobinot. However, the latter part of the story reveals to us that despite his 'gentlemanly' qualities, we see a Bobinot that is more fearful of than loving to his wife: "Bobinot's explanations and apologies which he had been composing...died on his lips as Calixta felt him to see if he were dry..."

As Bobinot's anti-thesis, the story shows that Alcee is a significant character because of his ability to act beyond the norms and rules that his society dictates him. From Alcee, the readers are able to create a 'compromise' the utilitarian way -- that is, by resorting to an undesirable act such as adultery in order to achieve the happiness that he, Calixta, and their respective families have achieved "after the storm" ("So the storm passed and every one was happy").

Indeed, in the short story "The Storm," the end justifies the means, and Alcee Laballiere becomes the living proof of this famous maxim. Unconventionality and breaking out of the bondage of conservatism through Alcee's actions provide evidence that the late 19th century has gradually outgrown its conservatism, and is preparing its way towards a more liberating, happy, and contented society for the 20th century.

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