Rebecca Friedrichs
English 271
Response #1
2.13.04
In class on Thursday, a student nonchalantly described the end of Kate Chopin’s
The Awakening as a depiction of Edna Pontillier’s move toward something larger and
more profound. Is Edna really moving toward the embrace of the sea, or t he womb of the
earth? Or is she simply running away from the duties in her life? The final pages of the
novel suggest both, but an analysis of Chopin’s language depicts a feeling that Edna’s
suicide is a weak retreat from a burdening life, rather than an eternal embrace that
preserves her true self.
As Edna is walking down to the beach, Chopin writes, “She understood now
clearly what she had meant long ago when she said to Adele Ratignolle that she would
give up the unessential, but she would never sacrifice herself for her children.”1 This
indicates that Edna believes her life is unessential, her presence within their lives is not
necessary, but what is important is that she does not lead an empty or false life. She
further describes her children as “antagonists who had overcome her; who had
overpowered and sought to drag her into the soul’s slavery for the rest of her days. But
she knew a way to elude them”2 This is strong imagery that depicts Edna as powerless
over her life, and the only way for her to escape it is to run away, or in other words, kill
herself. Language such as this indicates that it is an escape that Edna seeks, and it is not
an attempt to make a statement or a need to become a part of the sea and the earth.
Further, Chopin describes her mood in these last few pages, and says that “[d]espondency
1
2
pg. 108, Norton Critical Edition
ibid.
had come upon her there in the wakeful night, and had never lifted.”3 The use of the word
despondency gives the reader a sense that Edna feels useless, overpowered, defeated. It is
not a word that depicts Edna as strong, resolute in what she must do in order to save her
true self. The underlying tone in the last few pages is that of a slow descent into
nothingness, not a victorious move from a wasted life toward something higher or more
important.
3
ibid.