Sea Symbolism In The Awakening

The Awakening by Kate Chopin, is a book telling the story of Edna Pontellier, a woman seeking freedom and excitement and in the meantime, rebels against her role in society. “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” (62). While Edna feels trapped by her role as a wife and mother, she feels freed by Robert Lebrun. People believe that even though she sees Robert as her savior, he is ultimately her downfall. Kate Chopin uses many images to understand the demise of Edna and to show that maybe she was her own savior and ultimately, her “downfall” was

really a downfall after all.
There are many symbolic elements and images that make the connection between Edna's world and her awakening. Birds are a significant image starting at the beginning of The Awakening. Birds represent freedom and the ability to fly but are also symbols for something strong yet delicate. Trying to gain independence and control over her own life, Edna Pontellier feels like a caged bird. At the start of the novel, the parrot swears and shrieks at Edna, this event represents Edna's unspoken feelings. Edna often creates images in her mind while Madame Ratignolle plays her beloved piano. Edna's picture of a musical piece called "Solitude" is "the figure of a man standing beside a desolate rock on the seashore" (71). Edna, in her mind, is this man. "His attitude was one of hopeless resignation as he looked toward a distant bird winging its flight away from him" (71). Edna feels a desperate need to spread her wings and fly but she can't. Caged birds, although they are not free, they are safe. Like the birds, Edna does not know the dangers and consequences of freedom and the moment Edna tastes freedom, she won't want to go back to the comfort of a caged life.
The mockingbird, also in a cage, is a significant clue along with the parrot. Like the parrot represents Edna, the mockingbird represents Mademoiselle Reisz, who comes later on in the story. Mademoiselle Reisz helps Edna greatly. She understands her. Coincidentally, the parrot speaks Spanish and the mockingbird is the only one capable of understanding it. Later in the novel, Mademoiselle says to Edna, "The bird that would soar above the level plain of tradition and prejudice must have strong wings" (138). This means you need courage to rebel against society. In the end, as Edna is about to walk into the ocean, she sees "a bird with a broken wing...beating the air above, reeling, fluttering, circling, disabled, down, down to the water” (151-152). The bird represents Edna's thoughts that she had failed at finding freedom, or maybe her suicide is her freedom.
Another powerful symbol in The Awakening is the sea.

The sea symbols a couple different things. The first is empowerment because in the sea is where Edna learns to swim, which gives her the sense of accomplishment and power over her own body. The sea also plays the role of a lover. "The touch of the sea is sensuous, enfolding the body in its soft, close embrace" (108). "The ocean is currently the only place in which Edna feels pure comfort and solace. She goes to it when in need of happiness and support. It is here in the water and on the beach with Robert that she opens her soul and walks openly into new waves. She does not understand why the ocean makes her feel as it does, but she goes to it nonetheless” (14). In the end, Edna drowns herself in the

sea.
Along with the birds and the sea, the children are another symbol in The Awakening.

Edna feels helpless when it come to her children and even though she loves them, she thinks of herself and her soul separate from them. She struggles giving all of her to her children. In the novel, when speaking about children, they are often connected to Edna in some way. In The Awakening, Edna is, in a way, trying to be re-born as a different woman. The children also have a different role in the novel because Edna is viewing the world now from a child’s perspective which causes Edna to become self-absorbed, doesn’t think thoroughly or realistically, and does not care about the feelings of other, like a child. In the end, it is the thoughts of her children that push her to suicide. Edna realizes that no matter how much she depends on others, she will always have them depending on her. Society’s opinions of her will forever affect her children. Edna knew she was not “meant to be” a mother. Her children were something that she couldn’t reverse but she knew they didn't deserve a mother like her and in the end, she literally, did the very best she

could.
It is unclear whether Edna’s suicide was a symbol of her failure or her success at freedom. I believe it was her freedom because she could have ran away, lived on her own, and painted but she could only think about her sons and the reputation they would have to live with. Maybe it was actually a generous act, and honestly, the best thing she could do for her sons. Edna was not going to conform to society’s norms and in the end, I think she found herself and found her freedom through her suicide, it was her way of saying “I will not let anybody control me. I am not going to be tied down.”