Chopin's The Awakening and symbolism
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The isolation that Edna Pontellier experiences in Kate Chopin's "The Awakening" can be analyzed through the birds described in both physical and connotative forms within the text. These birds portray the journey that Edna takes in her quest of self-discovery, as well as revealing a parallel between this story and one with mythological roots.
Edna Pontellier as a character transforms from a subservient wife and socialite into an independent woman who will do anything to seek true meaning in her life. Her transformation is reflected in the two birds that physically exist within the story: the parrot and the crippled bird near the ocean. In the beginning of the story, a domesticated parrot sits and screams constantly in French, ordering people to 'go away.' Although he has been trained to do so, the parrot does not understand what he is saying. What this symbolizes in relation to Edna is that she was once unable to voice her objections to being treated like a possession by her husband, and she later "moves from her parrot-like position as an acculturated woman as her awareness of her situation unfolds" (Muirhead). Although Edna gains new opinions about her treatment and her place in society, it is still questionable whether or not she, like the parrot, really knows what she is talking about; for " a bird may sing or even speak words, but it does not understand its position in society and the social structure that keeps it in place" (Muirhead). From this "domesticated" form Edna transforms into a free willed, independent woman by the story's end. Before going into the ocean for the last time, she looks around the shore...