Personal Narrative: My Dear Edna's Letter

Edna’s children are different from other children, if one of her boys fell “…he was not apt to rush crying to his mother’s arms for comfort; he would more likely pick himself up, wipe the water out of his eyes and the sand out of his mouth, and go on playing”. Edna is not a typical Creole “mother-woman” who “idolized her children (and) worshipped her husband” (8) and at times that results in her husband’s claims that she neglects her children. Edna’s children leave her attached to her husband, and even if she is somehow able to escape the relationship with her husband she will never be able to escape her children. She realizes this and whether consciously or not, doesn’t care for her children the way this is expected of a woman in her time period. When Adele Ratignolle reminds her to, “Think of the children!…Oh think of the children! Remember them!” Edna finally realizes her decisions affect her and her children. Instead of accepting her responsibility as a mother Edna decides to give up, and does so by committing suicide.

The Awakening by Kate Chopin ends with the death of the main character, Edna Pontellier. Stripping off her clothes, she swims out to sea until her arms can no longer support her, and she drowns. It was not necessarily a suicide, neither was it necessarily the best option for escaping her problems.

Though there are several themes in this novel, the central theme that connects them all is identity and finding who you are and where you belong in life and society. At the beginning of the novel, we see Edna is portrayed as typical mother and wife; "Looking at them reminded her of her rings, which she had given to her husband before leaving for the beach. She silently reached out to him, and he, understanding, took the rings from his vest pocket and dropped them into her open palm. She slipped them upon her fingers" (1). Once Edna decides to live life the way she wants that is thrown out the window. The reason for this is due to Edna’s second side. She is said to have two sides "Even as a child, she had lived her own small life all within herself. At a very early period she had apprehended instinctively the dual life—that outward existence which conforms, the inward life which questions" (7). The "sides" refer to as her inner and outer self. Edna’s outer self is the person who everyone around tells/wants her to be; Her inner self is the Edna that longs to be free, she wants to do what she feels like without people judging her. This is why the theme is identity from start to finish Edna is struggling between who others want her to be vs. what she wants to be.

After rejecting to go to bed all evening, Edna is lastly overwhelmed with fatigue. Although Edna won the stand-off with her spouse over Edna joining her husband in bed immediately and got Robert to go to the island with her, she is experiencing the consequences of her impulsive and erratic behavior. While at church, Edna starts to feel faint and gets a cephalgia, so she suddenly leaves the mass with Robert following hastily after her. Robert transports her to Madame Antoine's household, where it is colder, silent, and passive. Madame Antoine is very welcoming and consents Edna to slumber in her vast, hygienic bed. Edna slowly disrobes and she observes the magnificence of her arms for the first time, and her senses are stimulated by the freshness of the sites and people around her, soon falling into slumber.

What is the difference between infatuation and love? This has been a topic of conversation for years, and yet we still have never figured out the exact answer to the question. By Webster’s Online Dictionary the definition of love is “affection based on admiration, benevolence, or common interests”(Webster’s). This is precisely how Edna Pontellier believes she feels about Robert Lebrun in “The Awakening” by Kate Chopin. Although on the contrary the definition of infatuation is “to cause to be foolish : deprive of sound judgment”(Webster’s), and this is more so the truth for Edna. Her need for freedom is so strong that she finds herself turning to other men just to satisfy that need. Her actions are completely opposing to her thought

These first thirteen chapters chronicle the daily life of Edna Pontellier, The Awakening’s protagonist. The novel opens on Mr. Pontellier; he is smoking a cigar and reading the newspaper while idly observing the life and activity around him. The novel turns its attention to his wife, Edna Pontellier. She is described as “rather handsome than beautiful” and has a face with a “certain frankness of expression,” an intriguing description if there ever was one. She is accompanied by Robert Lebrun, the son of Madame Lebrun, the owner of “the house” at which the Creole aristocracy stayed on the Grand Isle. They are rather close companions; Robert has chosen to follow her around for the summer, as is later revealed to be his custom. It’s revealed that Edna is an American woman from “the old Kentucky bluegrass country.” As the day progresses, Chopin details the tiny minutiae of married life that have disappointed both Leonce and Edna; Leonce feels hurt by her dismissiveness- “He thought it very discouraging that his wife, who was the sole object of his existence, evinced so little interest in things which concerned him, and valued so little his conversation…”- while Edna resents his overbearing conventionality- “An indescribable oppression, which seemed to generate in some unfamiliar part of her consciousness, filled her whole being with a vague anguish.” The Pontelliers reconcile before Leonce leaves for New Orleans

This distance, however vast has not done anything but increase my love for you. Everyday that goes by I pray for your wellbeing, blaming myself for leaving you behind. Why did I have to embark on this journey without you? My heart aches for you, but I find comfort in

I hope this letter finds you well, and that you can read my handwriting! I’m writing this note to you for two reasons that give me so much joy to tell you about.

Examine the ways in which Chopin reveals and develops the impact of Edna’s initial - awakening - in the central section of the novel. Chopin reveals the impact of Edna’s awakening through a number of different mediums and stylistic devices. Firstly, she uses Edna’s character and her interaction with other people to emphasise the initial development of Edna’s character.

As part of the greater push at that grade level to introduce kids to a greater depth of books, Mrs. Oak created a game that would award points based on the number and length of books that you read, with a prize being given to the winner at the end of every month (usually candy). Now being the clever nine year old brat that I was, I decided to game the system by quickly flipping through a great number of small children’s books every day. While this did put me ahead on points, I was completely avoiding the entire point of the game. So to Mrs. Oak’s great credit, she decided to limit the number of books I could check out of the school’s library to three per week. With my lead in the literary scoreboard slipping away, I checked out a book that

The idea of owning one’s destiny, to be one’s own master, remains the dream and desire for many. This very thought of obtaining a unique stroke and carving a new path from society’s traditions is a condition rooted in everyone. However, what makes an individual truly exemplary is their ability to pursue this feeling. Edna, the main character in Chopin’s The Awakening, represents the very definition of a struggle in finding one’s identity. Kate Chopin specifically points to this theme of an inner struggle to find one’s identity in Chapter XXVIII by utilizing word repetition, figurative language, and striking descriptions.

I miss you very much. I hope you are ok in America. I wanted to write you a letter to update you on some of the changes that have happened in our country and in our family since you moved to America.

“IF you develop a wonderful protocol, its’s useless if nobody uses it,” Edna B Foa

I was a little girl trying to get around in the small town Cresco Iowa. I tried my best to do my best with everything I did; mostly to make others around me happy. Growing up I didn’t have very many role models or guiding people to help me through my life. When I was a little and got to know my grandparent’s the older I got, I was obsessed; I looked up to them and hope to achieve what they have as a couple and individually. The most difficult time of my life was losing them.

I will tell you a tale of a woman of great success. This is a woman that has inspired me to be something great one day and to never give up trying. Though she may be growing into her elderly years she has lived a very challenging, joyful, loving and successful life. She is a woman of great faith and character, she is my grandmother.