12. Balance evidence with your own thinking: Quotation Sandwich My thinking: Kate Chopin crafts her story so that a reader can’t tell for sure how Mrs. Mallard feels. The story is full of conflicts that show Mrs. Mallard’s mixed feelings for her husband. Evidence: On the one hand, she is a sad widow who “went away to her room alone” and sinks into a chair feeling exhausted. On the other hand, as she sits there, she looks out the window and sees treetops “all aquiver with the new spring life” (320). Evidence: The “sparrows twittering in the eaves” and the blue sky my thinking: are both happy images. The busy, lively view seems out of place in this room where a new widow is supposed to be mourning (320). My thinking: Mrs. Mallard must be happy to some degree, or she wouldn’t be noticing the happy images. The contrasts help build suspense for the reader, who asks, does she or doesn’t she love this man?