Katherine O'Flaherty better known as Kate Chopin, was an American feminist writer that wrote short stories and novels. She was born in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Kate was the daughter of Thomas O'Flaherty, a successful businessman and Eliza Farias. She was the third daughter out of 5 children and amazingly she was the only one to live past age 25. In 1855 she took admission at The Sacred Heart Academy in St. Louis where she excelled in studies and won medals. In the same year at the Age of 5 her father passed away when he was killed on a train in which he was riding that crossed over a bridge that collapsed. For the next two years she lived at home with her mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother, all of them widows. After her father's death, Chopin developed a close relationship with her great-grandmother who first introduced her to the world of storytelling. In 1863 Kate's great-grandmother dies 3 days before Christmas and months later Kate's half-brother, George O'Flaherty, a Confederate soldier, dies of typhoid fever. Kate continued to go to school and developed a good academic record in which she studied both French and English literature and became an accomplished pianist. She attended numerous social events and became very popular. She also became interested in the movement for women's suffrage although she never became very politically active. In 1868 Kate graduated from the Academy of the Sacred Heart. In 1870, 19 year old Kate married Oscar Chopin, a twenty-five-year-old French-Creole businessman. Kate and Oscar were very happy together and got familiar with the Louisiana culture. However, Kate's period of married happiness did not last for long. After giving birth to six children at the age of 28, Kate became a widow in 1883 when her husband Oscar died of swamp fever. Kate didn't suffer from money issues due to her once successful husband's wealth. In 1884, she then moved back to St. Louis with her mother, but Sadly, Kate's mother dies the following year leaving Kate alone with her children once again. After the death of her mother she went to a family doctor that suggested she should write to help her with depression; therefore, she began to write in the year 1888 in which she immediately became successful and wrote short stories about people she had known in Louisiana. The Awakening was inspired by a true story of a New Orleans woman which was published in 1899, and by then she was well known as both a local colorist and a woman writer, and had published over one hundred stories, essays, and sketches in literary magazines. Kate Chopin's life ended on August 22, 1904, after she suffered a stroke while visiting the St. Louis World's Fair. She wasn't forgotten, as literary critics rediscovered her work and celebrated her stories .As writer of the late 19th Century she wrote about feelings. She suggested that women had a sexual appetite and craved independence. She was one of the first writers that wrote life as she saw it. She used writing as a coping mechanism due to the loss of her mother, brother and husband. Kate Chopin's stories often explore strong perspectives on female independence and sexuality. Although, Kate's actual life represents otherwise this document explores her techniques in writing in which were she used the symbolisms of freedom. Three of Chopin's works: the novel The Awakening and the short stories "The Story of an Hour" and "The Storm" share the symbolism of female oppression and independence, as well as freedom from what oppresses them. To start off, the story The Awakening was Chopin's major work and the most recognized in literary world. This story is centered on Edna Pontellier, the protagonist of the story, searching for the meaning of independence and solitude .She seeks out something to define her other then the average women role in life which is a wife, mother, woman. Edna in this story didn't excel in any of these areas by any stretch of imagination. The limitations of law gave women of the late 1800s,very few opportunities for individual expression and mainly independence. During that time women were expected to perform their domestic duties and care for the health and happiness of their families. Victorian women were prevented from seeking the satisfaction of their own wants and needs (Sparknotes). During her gradual awakening, Edna discovers her own identity and acknowledges her emotional and sexual desires. At first in the story Edna experiences her independence as no more than just an emotion. Later in the story she discovers her own strength, and