Forestall (Verb)

Forestall – To Stop (something) from happening to cause (something) to happen at a later time.

– To act before (someone else) in order to prevent something.

Source; Merriam – Webster’s dictionary.

• This word was found in the second paragraph of page 1.
• Date of class discussion: February 4^th 2015.
• Title of Handout: “The story of An Hour” by Kate Chopin.

Passage: “It was her sister Josephine who told her, in broken sentences; veiled hints that veiled hints that revealed in half concealing. Her husband’s friend Richards was there, too, near her. It was he who had been in the newspaper office when intelligence of the railroad disaster was received, with Brently Mallard’s name leading the list of “killed.” He had only taken the time to assure himself of its truth by a second telegram, and had hastened to forestall any less careful, less tender friend in bearing the sad message.”

Explanation: While reading the passage without the knowledge of the word forestall made the news of the death of Brently Mallard seem unimportant. In the story The Story of An Hour the protagonist by the name of Mrs. Mallard hears the tragic news of her husband’s death and faces many realizations of how her life has been caged due to her marriage. While the story progressed Mrs. Mallard dies from the overwhelming “joy” of seeing her husband alive after accepting the fact that he had died. In the beginning of the story we see the friend of Josephine’s husband Richards which was the first to hear the news. In that section of the story the author states “He had only taken the time to assure himself of its truth by a second telegram, and had hastened to forestall any less careful, less tender friend in bearing the sad message.” Upon discovering the true definition of forestall it was clear how close Richards re4lationship to the family was It showed that he wanted the best for Mrs. Mallard and to be the first to bring the horrific news. It also shows that he did not trust that anyone else would take up the responsibility of passing the news in the most appropriate way possible to the family so he made sure he took the jab upon himself.

0

0