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Part 2
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Storm, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Sex, Gender, and Liberation
Sex and Nature
Marriage and Infidelity
Summary
Analysis
Making their way home from the general store, Bobinôt and Bibi try to clean themselves up. As they tromp through soggy fields, Bobinôt frets that Bibi has ruined his best pair of pants and has mud on his shirt. As they trudge along, Bibi is “the picture of pathetic resignation.” They reach the house and “[prepare] for the worst,” ready to be scolded by Calixta, the ”over-scrupulous housewife.”
Described as “ the picture of pathetic resignation,” Bibi is again described as a somber child. This particular instance of seriousness appears as a direct result of anticipating his mother’s anger, suggesting that perhaps Bibi’s personality is reflective of the tense environment he must endure at home. Bobinôt also anticipates Calixta’s wrath—in this passage, he desperately tries to scrape the mud off their clothes as to not upset her further—which once again suggests that Calixta is typically strict and tightly wound.
Themes
Literary Devices
However, to Bobinôt and Bibi’s surprise, Calixta responds with joy at their arrival. Bobinôt finds himself at a loss for words; he had many excuses and apologies rehearsed for his wife, but she seems nothing but delighted that they’ve returned unharmed. She kisses both “effusively” and graciously accepts her husband’s gift of canned shrimp, which she prepares for dinner. All three—Bobinôt, Bibi, and Calixta—enjoy themselves over dinner and laugh so much that their cheer might be heard “as far away as [Alcée] Laballière’s.
Able to reconnect with her sensuality through sex with Alcée, Calixta more readily expresses affection for her family. Calixta's good mood catches her family by surprise, indicating that Bobinôt and Bibi are accustomed to dealing with a strict, high-strung housewife. As she is better able to care for her family, the romance between Calixta and Alcée serves to lift the family as a whole, once again depicting sex as a positive, healthy act. Further, Calixta’s profuse gratitude for the feeble gift of canned shrimp indicates that, with her sexual needs met elsewhere, Calixta can better appreciate what Bobinôt has to offer as a husband.
Themes
