What's the Rush?

Things seem to go by very fast these days, do they not? People rush through life and it seems as if you never get a chance to really enjoy life as you are going through the motions. Wouldn’t it be nice to have one solid, stable thing in your life that you took slowly and were completely sure of? Doesn’t it seem as if marriage should be this way? For some, it is. But for others, it seems just the opposite. It seems that some people are happy at the thought of a failed marriage, or are happy when given the opportunity out of a  marriage, like the woman in “The Story of an Hour” I, personally, find this sad.
                In “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin, a woman’s husband is supposedly dead and after the women cries about the circumstance that has so suddenly befallen her, she goes to her room and rejoices. She realizes that she is free and no longer has any responsibilities to a man; “She said it over and over under her breath: free, free, free!” (Roberts p.332).  In the story, it states that the woman was young, which probably means that the man is young, also. I cannot help but to think that the couple rushed into this marriage, without really critically thinking about the consequences on themselves. In the story it is admitted that “She had loved him- sometimes. Often she had not” (Roberts p. 332), which completely flabbergasts me. I don’t see how on Earth you can be married to someone you do not love with your whole heart and stick with it.

This relates to me, somewhat, because my 24 year old brother recently got the crazy idea that he is going to marry his 19 year old girlfriend of five months that he “loves” so terribly much. Now, five months is a short time to be saying vows, anyway, but when you add in the fact that my brother was just shipped to Japan for two years in the Navy and his fiancé is still in college in Florida, it seems even more unrealistic. What are the chances of this marriage actually working out so my brother and his current fiancé will grow old together? I would say slim to none. I don’t understand how two people can be this naïve, but I suppose it is possible. I cannot help but to think that if, God forbid, something was to happen to my brother, or Liz, his fiance, and they had been married for any length of time at all before the accident, the one still alive would be thinking the same thing as the lady in the story- that they are free. No more having to worry about a broken relationship, no more having to worry about the other one at all, no more wondering if they are being true, it would all just cease. And the one left would be free.

Personally, I find this a terrible truth. Marriage should be taken slowly and should be thought into deeply so both parties agree that it is the right thing. Marriage is a vow before God. Anything to that degree should be taken with complete seriousness and sureness, in any circumstance. No one should be happy about a broken marriage, and I believe the source of this joy is the result of rushing into things. The couple in "The Story of an Hour" by Kate Choplin should have waited to get married to make sure they were really right for each other. So please, think about the long term consequences of your actions. Not just on you, but on anyone it might affect. Like a younger sister who just wants her brother to be happy, even if he seems to be completely against it.

Works Cited:

Roberts, Edgar V. Literature: An Introduction to Reading and Writing Ninth Edition. New York, NY. 2009. Pearson. Print.