2018 has become a monumental year for culture, sexuality, and gender acceptance. Not only have women filed complaints of sexual assault, but genders are no longer limited to men and women. Even Hollywood is beginning to show signs of change when it comes to the ethnicity or sexuality of leading roles; Netflix's To All the Boys I've Loved Before and Marvel's Black Panther are good examples. However, whether it was as long ago as the Victorian era or as recent as today, many still attempt to change their identities out of fear of being discriminated against due to physical traits. This is observed through several literary and artistic works. Specifically, the works of Kate Chopin, Maya Angelou, and Andrew Wyeth all share a similar theme: one may adopt public identities because of the critical and discriminatory world around them. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get an Original EssayThe first struggle with identity due to discrimination is seen in Kate Chopin's short story, “The Story of an Hour ". In the short story, the main character, Mrs. Mallard, lives in a male-privileged society where women do not have much control over their lives. Mrs. Mallard's husband recently died and she deals with this news in her bedroom. “She cried immediately, with sudden and wild abandon, in her sister's arms. Once the storm of grief passed, she went to her room alone. She wouldn’t want anyone to follow her,” Chopin wrote. Chopin first portrays Mrs. Mallard as a grieving and terribly upset widow. However, Chopin goes on to write: “She could see in the open square in front of her house the tops of the trees all quivering with new spring life. There were patches of blue sky showing here and there through the clouds that had met and piled on top of each other to the west facing his window. » This is in complete contrast to what Chopin wrote earlier; Using the literary element of visual imagery, Chopin now describes the landscape as lush, bright, and beautiful. These three adjectives are generally associated with light and happy things. Death, however, is not something that “quivers with new spring life.” “In literacy, movies, and art, death is generally seen as dark, miserable, and gloomy. Chopin's use of juxtaposition shows the first change in Mrs. Mallard's view of her husband's death. Mrs. Mallard even begins to question her love for her husband. “And yet she had loved him – sometimes. Often this was not the case. What does it matter! Not only does Mrs. Mallard begin to lose her mask of a loving, dependent, submissive woman, but she also begins to show her identity: a free woman who exists for herself and herself alone. "'Free! Body and soul free!' she kept whispering." As Mrs. Mallard sits in her room, Chopin uses visual imagery to allude to the fact that she is beginning to suffer a heart attack . It can be inferred that for Mrs. Mallard, her death will free her from the boundaries, constraints and expectations of her society. In the last paragraph of “The Story of an Hour,” Chopin writes: “When the doctors came. , they said she died of heart disease – joy that kills” This shows how much Mrs. Mallard's death was her freedom, for she could no longer be removed from the chains. of marriage; the woman in Maya Angelou's poem, "The Mask", however, still feels the constraints ofracism which forces him to put on his “mask”. Angelou's use of juxtapositions, metaphors, and onomatopoeia can help the reader realize that the woman in her poem lives in a turbulent and racist world. Stanzas 1-9 are by Paul Laurence Dunbar, speaking of a person who hides his pain from the world by donning a false mask of contentment. Angelou then begins to write her own words: "We smile but oh my God Our tears to you from tortured souls rise And we sing Oh Baby doll, now we sing. The clay is vile under our feet. But let the world think otherwise. We wear the mask. “Angelou uses juxtaposition; she first speaks of an infernal world but then evokes singing. Singing is often considered a light and healthy act, not a way to express agony. However, it seems that the woman in the poem is singing to show the world that she is "fine", hiding behind a mask in order to protect herself from society's harsh criticism. Angelou continued by writing on stanzas 33-37: “They grow the fruit but eat the rind. Hmm huh! I laugh uh huh huh. Until I start crying when I think of myself, my parents and my children. “Growing the fruit but eating the peel is a metaphor for work but suffering. Perhaps Angelou is mentioning African Americans' slavery past; they have worked and bled endlessly for the South and yet they have no better world. They may have been emancipated, but they still face discrimination. I believe Angelou uses onomatopoeia to show how the woman is trying to hide her pain by laughing. However, the woman begins to cry when she thinks about the world around her and how these times may not be better than they were for African Americans many years ago . Angelou wrote a metaphor on stanzas 42-45 saying, “My fathers sit on gnarled pews like broken candles, all waxed and burned deep. They say, but darling, it was our submission that made your world go round. “Candles are often used to light rooms, but as soon as they are unsightly or used, they are thrown away. Perhaps the woman's "fathers" (the elders, perhaps) saw the cruelty of the world and learned to give in to anyone to make things easier for the future generation. “The Story of an Hour” and “The Mask” focus on issues of gender and race through the use of literary elements; However, Andrew Wyeth's "Christina's World" is a painting that conveys a powerful message about a struggle for identity due to physical discrimination. It depicts a young girl sitting in the peaceful landscape of what can be assumed to be the countryside. Upon closer inspection, we realize that this painting may not be as peaceful as it appears, as we can begin to realize that the girl's right arm appears slightly distorted. This brings questions to the surface: what is wrong with her? Why is she alone on the ground? From my background knowledge, I know that “Christina’s World” was painted in 1948, at the height of a polio epidemic. Perhaps the girl was disowned because of her illness, which could explain why her left hand hesitantly moves toward the house, as if longing to return. Wyeth used an element of art, space, to show how far the girl is from the house. This could be a metaphor for how the residents of that house pushed her away. Other artistic elements used by Wyeth are contrast and line; the field in which the girl sits is darker than the fields near the house. This could.