Both Maya Angelou's poem “Still I Rise” and Kate Chopin's “The Story of an Hour” deal with inequalities and people's responses to them.

In the poem, the speaker presents the oppression of her people who have a past “rooted in pain” and shame. They have been lied about throughout history and trodden down in the dirt. Yet, the speaker (probably representing her people as a whole) maintains that she will rise. She will be sassy in the face of gloom, optimistic, filled with hope. She will not bow her head or lower her eyes or cry out or give in to tears. Instead, she will be haughty and laugh even when others shoot with their words or cut with their eyes or even kill. The speaker asserts, “But still, like air, I'll rise.” Oppression will not keep her down. She will rise up into the clear light of day, holding onto “the gifts my ancestors gave” and reaching out in hope and renewal.

The situation in “The Story of an Hour” is quite different. It is not until Mrs. Mallard learns of the death of her husband that she realizes the freedom she has lacked. As she looks out the window of her room, she senses something coming toward her. She embraces freedom, the ability to live for herself, to do what she pleases with the rest of her life. She has been living under her husband's will her whole married life, and while she has sometimes loved him, she has missed the ability to assert herself and follow her own desires and goals. Now she thinks she has that chance; her days will be her own. She now wants to live a long life. But then her husband walks through the door, and the weight that falls on Mrs. Mallard stops her heart.