Henning 1

Amy Henning

Prof. McCrary

ENC-160 Lit & Comp

26 January 2022

Response #5:

Monstrous joy is an oxymoron as monstrous means to have monster characteristics and

joy meaning to show happiness. The monstrous joy in “She did not stop to ask if it were

or were not a monstrous joy that held her” meant her happiness of self fulfillment. Louise

knew in her mind that sometimes she loved her husband but that there were also times

when she didn’t love him and that now none of that matters anymore since he has passed

and that her mind and soul is now free. She grieved her husband whenever she saw him

in her mind and when she saw him at the funeral with this arms folded but she also soon

realized that after the funeral and he has been buried she can do whatever she wants as

she no longer has someone else to consider when making decisions and that she would be

free. The “monstrous joy” is the joy she feels when she can live on her own, without any

toxic marriage and “fake” love for one another which is showed when she says “and yet

she had loved him - sometimes”, this idea making her happy and feel joy. She was torn

between having to feel two different emotions, grieving and feeling sorry about the death

of her husband or whether to show happiness for her new free life without any husband to

worry about, which is why the paradox “monstrous joy” is used.