The phrase seems to be inserted haphazardly into the story: "So the storm passed and everyone was happy" (p212). However, there is a purpose to the ambiguity of the ending; allows Chopin to create an ending that unifies his central theme. Throughout the narrative, she presents female sexuality through images of the storm. Her protagonist is unaware of the sexuality within herself, and it is only by setting aside the constraints of society and marriage that she is able to know her true birthright, female sexuality. Chopin is not arguing that one can only acquire this knowledge outside of marriage, but rather that it can only be obtained in the absence of social constraints; its unreserved depiction of female sexuality would have been seen as a radical affront to the society of its time. The ending is therefore deliberately ambiguous: one can see the passage of the storm as a happy ending, or as implying that the storm will eventually return, perhaps with the intent to destroy. Kate Chopin, however, sees female sexuality as something pure, natural and very real in her existence; it cannot be taken for granted that a short and limited awakening, which passes like a storm, is sufficient to achieve it