Overall, I really enjoyed The Awakening. The beginning was a bit hard to get through, but after that, I wasn't disappointed. However, I didn't like how Kate Chopin ended the book. She wrote, "There was the hum of bees, and the musky odor of pinks filled the air" (Chopin 157). For Edna, I felt as though there should've been a better way to show her committing suicide. The ocean is a symbol and everything, but it was kind of boring. Everything Edna did that she wasn't supposed to was this great big thing, like the affair, disobeying her husband, and moving out. I felt like her death should've been bigger. I didn't really feel sorrow when Edna died. At first, I didn't get that she died, but after I read it back a couple times, I understood. I do also wonder what happened to Robert. The last thing we read of him was the note he wrote Edna saying, "I love you. Good-by-- because I love you," (Chopin 152). Did he go back to Mexico? Did he go somewhere else? He said the reason he first left and then came back was because of Edna. But then he left AGAIN because of Edna. I didn't like Robert at first, but I think I do now. I'm kind of sad that he left again. How tragic.
The ending was bittersweet. I agree, I feel like Edna, the main rebelling character, should have gotten a bigger ending. But all Edna wanted was freedom and with that, she would have been relieved, and calm. Just like how the ending was. Peaceful and calm, like Edna's soul- LOL :-)
ReplyDeleteI don't think the ending was intended to be entertaining more than it was supposed to be a message at the time to the society of her day. Furthermore, the ambiguity of Robert's leave was so the reader was able to feel as Edna felt in that instant. This is Edna's story, not Robert's.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you and also wonder what happened to Robert. The book was written in 3rd person point of view for a reason; just because Edna died not everyone else's lives stopped too. What a shame that she killed herself for a man, or matter in fact because of two men! She should've been an independent woman who didn't need a man like Eva :-)
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