The Difficult Journey in Kate Chopin’s short stories, At Cheniere Caminada and Athenaise :: compare and contrast essay examples

The Difficult Journey in Kate Chopin’s short stories, At Cheniere Caminada and Athenaise Kate Chopin’s short stories, â€Å"At Cheniere Caminada† and â€Å"Athenaise,† present the tales of two innocents, Tonie and Athenaise, taking a journey. They must leave their homes and wander into foreign lands before returning with a greater understanding of themselves and life. The structure, setting, and images of these two stories symbolize the seeming transformation of the characters. In structure, the two stories follow a journey motif. In â€Å"At Cheniere Caminada,† Tonie begins at home and then travels to Grand Isle then New Orleans before returning to Cheniere Caminada. He cannot return to his home until he has come to terms with the questions that have risen in his life. For Athenaise, her journey also takes her from her married home. The story opens with her at her parent’s home. She is forced to return to Cazeau’s house, but because she does not have the answers to her questions, she cannot stay there. She runs away to New Orleans and only comes back to Cazeau when she finds her answers. Paralleling the journey of these two is the contrast of city and country. Tonie and Athenaise both live in the country, a place traditionally associated with innocence, a lack of knowledge. In the beginning of both stories, Tonie and Athenaise lack an understanding of love and sexuality. Tonie â€Å"had no desire to inflame the hearts of any of the island maidens† (Cheniere 1). In Part II, the narrator tells the reader that Tonie had â€Å"never felt those premonitory symptoms of love which afflict the greater portion of mankind before they reach the age which he had attained (2). Since the object of his affection, Claire, does not live on Cheniere Caminada, Tonie must travel to Grand Isle to be near her. After he misses the chance to take her as his own when they are alone on his boat (4), he leaves Grand Isle, and we next see him in New Orleans, even farther from his home. Only after he hears the news of Claire’s death can he return to Cheniere Cami nada because this represents the end of his quest.