Edna’s Self Discovery in Chopin’s The Awakening
She was fond of her children in an uneven, impulsive way. She
would sometimes gather them passionately to her heart; she would
sometimes forget them. The year before they had spent part of
the summer with their grandmother Pontellier in Iberville.
Feeling secure regarding their happiness and welfare, she did
not miss them except with an occasional intense longing. Their
absence was a sort of relief, though she did not admit this,
even to herself. It seemed to free her of a responsibility
which she had blindly assumed and for which fate had not fitted
her. (p. 40)
Edna Pontellier is a child discovering her very sense of self. Her attitude toward her own children emphasizes the she is not the typical “mother-woman” (p. 29). This is one of the key elements in identifying Edna’s “awakening.” Unlike the other women, such as Madame Ratignolle, she has not accepted her role unquestionably. This passage is an insightful window into the beginnings of Edna’s new thoughts.
Edna considers herself “fond of her children.” This statement alone is strange. Most mothers are enamored of their children, obsessed with their every movement. Even her fondness is considered “uneven” and “impulsive.” Edna, beginning to feel as a child herself, is noticing these traits within her.
Edna speaks of the summer they spent away “with their grandmother...in Iberville.” Even in their extended absence she missed them only with “an occasional intense longing,” perhaps as someone might miss a city, or an old tattered stuffed toy. She seemed to feel towards them more as family, loved and missed, but not intensely as a mother would.
Most striking in this passage are the last two sentences. It is in these phrases that Edna begins to demonstrate something important about herself. She feels “relief” when the children are gone. She feels “free” of the “responsibility.” One “which she had blindly assumed.” Edna had simply accepted the role of motherhood. It was expected, and so she had asked no questions. She is now realizing, however, that she feels this is a position in life “for which fate had not fitted her.
With a husband and two children at the age of twenty eight, Edna Pontillier realized that the mother-wife life was not for her. With her new found independence Edna’s husband was unsure of how to handle his new untraditional wife. “I came to consult—no, not precisely to consult—to talk to you about Edna. I don't know what ails her.”(pg. 109) Mr. Pontillier is a loving and good husband but, his slight narcissistic personality causes him to lose touch with his wife. Mr. Pontillier buys Edna bonbons and compliments her in front of their friends but it would seem that he enjoys spending time with his friends and working more than he values his time with his wife. “Coming back to dinner?" his wife called after him. He halted a moment and shrugged his shoulders.”(pg. 8) The only reason Mrs. Pontillier stays with her husband for so long is because of her children. Although the Pontillier children are not major characters they help demonstrate her true commitment. Edna would rather die than let her children think their mother left them to be with another man. “She thought of Leonce and the children. They were a part of her life. But they need not have thought that they could possess her, body...
As the novel starts out Edna is a housewife to her husband, Mr. Pontellier, and is not necessarily unhappy or depressed but knows something is missing. Her husband does not treat her well. "...looking at his wife as one looks at a valuable piece of personal property which has suffered some damage." She is nothing but a piece of property to him; he has no true feelings for her and wants her for the sole purpose of withholding his reputation. "He reproached his wife with her inattention, her habitual neglect of the children. If it was not a mother's place to look after children, whose on earth was it?" Mr. Pontellier constantly brings her down for his own satisfaction not caring at all how if affects Edna.
Gun violence in youth has become much more prevalent. Today’s youth are more likely to turn to guns to solve their problems with bullies or to help them to fight a mental illness. Kids are taking guns from their parents or are just going to the streets and buying the guns from random people. Although there are jurisdictions that have started to use gun violence programs to help combat these issues the programs are not found everywhere and are not going to work forever. One such program that we will learn about later on is Operation Ceasefire.
A jury is a panel of citizens, selected randomly from the electoral role, whose job it is to determine guilt or innocence based on the evidence presented. The Jury Act 1977 (NSW) stipulates the purpose of juries and some of the legal aspects, such as verdicts and the right of the defence and prosecution to challenge jurors. The jury system is able to reflect the moral and ethical standards of society as members of the community ultimately decide whether the person is guilty or innocent. The creation of the Jury Amendment Act 2006 (NSW) enabled the criminal trial process to better represent the standards of society as it allowed majority verdicts of 11-1 or 10-2, which also allowed the courts to be more resource efficient. Majority verdicts still ensure that a just outcome is reached as they are only used if there is a hung jury and there has been considerable deliberation. However, the role of the media is often criticized in relation to ensuring that the jurors remain unbiased as highlighted in the media article “Independent Juries” (SMH, 2001), and the wide reporting of R v Gittany 2013 supports the arguments raised in the media article. Hence, the jury system is moderately effective in reflecting the moral and ethical standards of society, as it resource efficient and achieves just outcomes, but the influence of the media reduces the effectiveness.
Another example of how Edna¡¦s immaturity allows her to mature is when Edna swam like a baby when she went swimming for the first time, and she had over estimated her power. ¡§Once she turned and looked toward the shore, toward the people she had left there. She had not gone any great distance¡Kshe made no mention of her encounter with death and her flash of terror, except to say to her husband, ¡¥I thought I should have perished out there alone.
They are the impartial third-party whose responsibility is to deliver a verdict for the accused based on the evidence presented during trial. They balance the rights of society to a great extent as members of the community are involved. This links the legal system with the community and ensures that the system is operating fairly and reflecting the standards and values of society. A trial by jury also ensures the victim’s rights to a fair trial. However, they do not balance the rights of the offender as they can be biased or not under. In the News.com.au article ‘Judge or jury? Your life depends on this decision’ (14 November 2013), Ian Lloyd, QC, revealed that “juries are swayed by many different factors.” These factors include race, ethnicity, physical appearance and religious beliefs. A recent study also found that juries are influenced by where the accused sits in the courtroom. They found that a jury is most likely to give a “guilty” verdict if the accused sits behind a glass dock (ABC News, 5 November 2014). Juries also tend to be influenced by their emotions; hence preventing them from having an objective view. According to the Sydney Morning Herald article ‘Court verdicts: More found innocent if no jury involved’ (23 November 2013), 55.4 per cent of defendants in judge-alone trials were acquitted of all charges compared with 29 per cent in jury trials between 1993 and 2011. Professor Mark Findlay from the University of Sydney said that this is because “judges were less likely to be guided by their emotions.” Juries balance the rights of victims and society to a great extent. However, they are ineffective in balancing the rights of the offender as juries can be biased which violate the offender’s rights to have a fair
Gun violence, have the tendency for youths to experience hardships of violence by other youths. Continuous studied on firearm show the increase of death that’s occurring with children in the U.S., ranging from ages 0-20 needs to be rectify (Children Defense Fund). In 2007, more recent studies by Children’s Defense Fund provided more statistical information on children and young adults of all races, who are subjected to gun violence, has triple since 2007. These finding suggest that vulnerable children are dying from the lack of gun control. Adolescence is a time for continue growth development, which many of the risk factors involving teenage violence is becoming more prevalent with children of all ages. More children and young adults are killed by firearms than from all other death related issues combine (Irwin, Berg & Cart, 2002). In other words, the numbers of violence inflicted upon children are generated by oth...
The jury system is essentially a descendant of Great Britain, the Greeks, Romans, and Egyptians. Colonialism played a significant role in the development of the jury system globally. However, despite colonial influence, judicial systems across the world have taken their own way. As a result, the jury system has developed and changed to suit the needs and social conscience of different countries. Across the world, juries examine and decide the facts in a jury trial, the accuracy of the testimony, the guilt or innocence of criminal defendants, and liabilities in a civil litigation. Today, many countries such as Britain, United States, Brazil, Canada, Japan, Australia, France, German, India, and so on practice jury trials. These countries will be the issue of discussion in this paper.
The jury plays a crucial role in the courts of trial. They are an integral part in the Australian justice system. The jury system brings ordinary people into the courts everyday to judge whether a case is guilty or innocent. The role of the jury varies, depending on the different cases. In Australia, the court is ran by an adversary system. In this system “..individual litigants play a central part, initiating court action and largely determining the issues in dispute” (Ellis 2013, p. 133). In this essay I will be discussing the role of the jury system and how some believe the jury is one of the most important institutions in ensuring that Australia has an effective legal system, while others disagree. I will evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of a jury system.
Juvenile gun violence is an ever-increasing problem in our country. With a wave of school shooting behind us it is time to get this under control. Many studies have been done on how to effectively diminish juvenile gun violence. It is clear that this must be handled on a state and local level with the federal government backing the states. Prevention and law enforcement is the key to successfully eradicate our nation of the ugly stain caused by youth gun violence.
Wright, A., FebloWitz, J., Phansalkar, S., Liu, J., Wilcox, A., Keohane, C., … Bates, D. (2012). Preventability of adverse drug events involving multiple drugs using publicly available clinical decision support tools. American Journal of Health-System Pharmacy, 69, 221-227.
Madame Ratignolle simply does not understand Edna; to her, sacrificing one’s life is the utmost that a mother can do for her children. It is as if Edna was not even “talking the same language.” In fact, the two women might well be speaking different languages. Unlike Madame Ratignolle who seems to have a baby every couple of years, Edna’s head is not filled exclusively with thoughts about her children. Whereas Madame Ratignolle is motherly at all times, Edna often seems irritated by her role as mother, and her attentions to her children often occur as an afterthought. Madame Ratignolle’s entire being is bound to her children; Edna’s being is of her own design. For her there is more to life than marriage and babies and social obligations. Edna might well, at least in this passage, be asserting an early version of what Betty Friedan discusses in The Feminine Mystique.
From all this chaos, Edna is consistently trying to find and express herself. She has a strong feeling towards being set free and the importance of herself to her. “I would give up the unessential; I would give my money, I would give my life for my children; but I wouldn’t give myself. I can’t make it more clear; it’s only something which I am beginning to comprehend, which is revealing itself to me.” (47). What Edna is stating, is much deeper than a simple feeling on how she would not give herself away for her children. She’s expressing her emotions on the creativity of feministic thoughts and feels who you are as your own person is essential. Another example is, "You have been a very, very foolish boy, wasting your time dreaming of impossible things when you speak of Mr. Pontellier setting me free! I am no longer one of Mr. Pontellier's possessions to dispose of or not. I give myself where I choose. If he were to say, 'Here, Robert, take her and be happy; she is yours,' I should laugh at you both." (108). This shows Edna again exploring feminist thoughts and the feeling that she is not an object. Kate Chopin shows many of the same feelings and readers see this through characters like Edna and other literary sources. As an article states, “Chopin herself stood naked in her exploration of female creativity
As the novel The Awakening opens, the reader sees Edna Pontellier as one who might seem to be a happy married woman living a secure, fulfilled life. It is quickly revealed, though, that she is deeply oppressed by a male dominated society, evident through her marriage to Leonce. Edna lives a controlled life in which there is no outlet for her to develop herself as the individual who she is. Her marriage to Leonce was more an act of rebellion from her parents than an act of love for Leonce. She cares for him and is fond of him, but had no real love for him. Edna’s inability to awaken the person inside her is also shown through her role as a “mother-woman”. She loves and cares for her children a great deal, but does not fit into the Creole mother-society in which other women baby and over protect their children.
Criminology centers its attention on the criminal as a person, his behavior, and what has led him or her to a life of crime. Criminology seeks to understand the criminals' genetic makeup, to learn whether there is an inherited tendency to crime. It also takes into consideration such issues as the individuals socioeconomic background, family background, educational opportunities, and childhood associations.