Edna Pontellier In The Awakening And Their Eyes Were Watching God

By not adhering to societal social constructs and being an “other” in society, one’s life can change for either the better or worse. A person can be an “other” in a good way or bad way, as he/she can influence people with their differences or he/she can cause problems within the society. My life would have been significantly different if I had to live in the societies of Edna Pontellier from The Awakening, the Narrator from “The Yellow Wallpaper,” and Janie Crawford from Their Eyes Were Watching God. Each of these women are an “other” in their society, and my life would have been changed a lot if I had to be an “other” in any of their societies. First, my life would have changed if I had lived in the society of Edna Pontellier from The Awakening.

The novel states, “‘How does [Edna] act?’ inquired the Doctor. ‘Well, it isn’t easy to explain,’ said Mr. Pontellier, throwing himself back in his chair. ‘She lets the housekeeping go to the dickens!’” (66). Like Edna, I do not believe that I, as a woman, should have to do all of the housework and taking care of children. If I was faced with Leonce complaining to me about this, I would have explained to him that marriage is an equal partnership and that he could help around the house and raising the children. Even though Edna’s society believed in traditional gender roles, I do not, and I would make sure that my husband knew this. As well as this, Edna goes against her husband and buys a house against his wishes, which makes her an “other” in her society because women were not supposed to go against their husbands, as the novel states, “When Mr. Pontellier learned of his wife’s intention to abandon her home and take up her residence elsewhere…[Edna] had acted upon her impetuous determination…” (94). Unlike Edna, I would have talked this over with my husband and heard his side of the decision. Although I am independent, I like to consider other people’s reasonings on why or why not to do something and not make irrational decisions. If Edna would have made the same decision that I would have, her husband and she might have talked out their problems and fix some issues. Moreover, because Edna does

Janie’s society is very oppressive towards women and puts traditional gender roles on Janie. For instance, Janie goes through with marrying Logan Killicks, even though she did not want to. The novels states, “‘Please don’t make me marry Mr. Killicks.’...Janie and Logan got married in Nanny’s parlor…” (15, 21) Although Janie’s grandmother wants her to marry Logan in order for her to have a better life, I would have told that woman no, and I would not have cared if it was my grandmother. If my grandmother kept on pushing me to marry an old, creepy man like Logan, I would have ran away. Even though I would have only been 16 in Janie’s situation, I still would have had better sense than to marry someone whom I did not want to and be unhappy for the rest of my life. In addition, Janie makes the bold decision to run off with Jody Starks and start a new life, as the novel states, “Janie hurried out of the front gate and turned south. Even if Joe was not there waiting for her, the change was bound to do her good” (32). If I was stuck in Janie’s situation as married to an old man who I do not like, I would have done the same thing. Even if I had not met somebody else like Joe, I still would have gotten myself out of that relationship in order to find happiness. Most women would stay and suffer through their unhappy marriage, but not Janie or I. Also, Janie