Kate Chopin's The Awakening - Book Report/Review Example

The transformation from a submissive nineteenth-century wife wearing corsets and fine lace to a wise and independent woman who is relentlessly pursuing happiness is beautifully displayed in narratives including symbols using the sea, clothing, food, houses and piano playing. The symbol of the bird is scattered throughout the novel and provides a consistent reminder of Edna's struggles that involve other characters in her quest to escape her home and her duties to her husband and children.This symbol first makes an appearance in the opening chapter in the form of a caged bird, where "A green and yellow parrot, which hung in a cage outside the door, kept repeating over and over: 'Allez Vous-en!

Allez Vous-en! Sapristi! (which translates Go Away, Go Away, For heaven's sake!) That's all right! He could speak a little Spanish, and also a language which nobody understood, unless it was the mocking-bird that hung on the other side of the door, whistling his fluty notes out upon the breeze with maddening persistence" Chopin described both birds here as "properties" which implies a lack of freedom on Edna Pontellier's part, but also that "they had the right to make all the noise they wished" which counters the previous statement on freedom.

The last sentence in that paragraph where "Mr. Pontellier has the privilege of quitting their society when they ceased to be entertaining," might explain this contradiction where if he has the privilege, the "rights" are no longer valid. The fervent plea to "Go Away!" expresses Edna's longing to leave her subservient role as a submissive wife and mother.To reinforce the example in Chapter 1, Chopin once again uses the parrot in Chapter 9 to set the tone for Edna Pontellier's frustration of being in a caged situation when the bird shrieked that "he was the only being present who possessed sufficient candor to admit that he was not listening to these gracious performances for the first time that summer.

" The bluntness and audacity in this statement are necessary for drumming up "sufficient candor" for Edna to admit that being a wife and mother may not be as fulfilling as she portrays every day and that the politeness linked to "gracious performances" was not necessarily a welcomed event.