The Night Came Slowly

The predominant character in Kate Chopin’s story is the first-person narrator. The narrator is never named or gendered. Few personal details are given about this character. Rather, Chopin uses the interior monologue to develop the narrator’s sense of the world and relationships with other humans and with natural forces.

The narrator represents those who seek wisdom but are held back by the flawed or incomplete knowledge that society forces upon them instead. The narrator expresses a sense of apathy and even disdain toward other humans. The manner in which man communicates, which includes man’s books, has caused the narrator pain. The narrator is therefore losing interest in engaging with other humans, having no energy for studying people or books. Rather, the narrator is drawn to the “Summer night” (Paragraph 1) and its mode of communicating, that is, the narrator feels keenly The Allure of Gentleness.

The narrator is critical of humanity, yet very human. The narrator seeks to understand the world better and to find a sense of comfort and peace in that understanding. Unfortunately, the other humans around her only chatter. Their words are not as wise as those of the katydids, who sing a slumber song.