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Sound In The Awakening

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The Awakening by Kate Chopin ends with the protagonist reliving old memories and eventually entering the ocean to drown herself. However, this ending does not feel like an ending for this character, instead it feels like a new beginning of awakening. This effect happens through the use of indicative diction, symbolic imagery, and alluring sound. This ending is seen as a new beginning or awakening for the protagonist through indicative diction. The protagonist claims that her children were like “antagonists,” plotting against her and put her in “soul’s slavery.” The use of these phrases indicates that they were making her life terrible, and captivating her like a slave. However, she then says she found a way to “elude them,” running away from …show more content…

The author makes it seem like the ocean wants the protagonist to enter into her own demise through the sound of the soft ‘s’. The voice of the sea is said to be “seductive, never ceasing, whispering” to the “soul”, inviting it to the “abysses of solitude.” The ‘s’ sound creates a peaceful, sensuous feeling, which is in a sense inviting and calming. The author masks the true meaning for this phrase with the ‘s’ sound, however it indicates that the sea wants the protagonist to enter in order to never leave because the abyss of solitude is a phrase for death. To some, death is seen as a new beginning because one gets to either experience new things, or be reincarnated into a new body. Additionally, the protagonist claims that the touch of the sea is “sensuous” in its “soft, close embrace.” This further repeating of the ‘s’ sound also shows that the sea is alluring her into entering. The author creates the sea to seem calm and peaceful, making nobody know the true violent nature of it. This is an awakening because the protagonist enters the sea, which represents a baptism, and never leaves. She instead stays and recalls all her memories, but realizes she does not want to live them anymore, and rather live her own life. She is awakened through the sea, in its attempts to lure her in and capture

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Dialectal Journal; The Awakening (Kate Chopin) Motif- The Sea Quote Literary/Style Elements Commentary Additional Ideas “There was no sound abroad except the hooting of an old owl in the top of a water-oak, and the everlasting voice of the sea, that was not uplifted at that soft hour.” (7) Personification Chopin’s use of personification demonstrates how the sea provides a feeling of comfort. The soft hour helps to communicate the feeling of comfort as Chopin tries to show how the setting of the sea is calming.

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Waves of warm salty air fills the island of Grand Isle as Edna Pontellier and other Creole vacationers settle in. Time coming and going as romantic affairs interfere with the lost love of Mr. and Mrs. Pontellier. Continuous disregard to the roles of a wife, mother, and social aspect to the public, set intentionally. Action and consequences made to overall, achieve the dream of independence. In The Awakening by Kate Chopin, the use of birds and houses are symbols that illustrate the desire for freedom under the pressure of society rule.

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Within the painting “Ophelia” by Sir John Everett Millais, the inherent tranquility of Ophelia in the water accurately parallels Edna’s own feelings towards the motif of the sea, and the detailed elements of nature in the image exhibits the concept of a women’s inherent relationship with nature that is further perceived in “The Awakening.” Consequently, this painting best accompanies Chopin’s message in her novel, which conveys that the significant relationship between women and nature intrinsically restrains women from truly ever having freedom and independence, and therefore pushes women to continuously search for a place to have individuality. Throughout the entire novel, the sea was a representation of individuality and freedom. It was

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In Kate Chopin’s “The Awakening”, the main character, Edna Pontellier, becomes awakened to herself, her need for nonconformity, and her strength through water and the sea. The water and sea serves a multitude of everyday purposes such as swimming, bathing, and drinking. However, Edna’s experiences with water are extremely symbolic, “awakening” her as a woman(48). In her first experience of swimming- in which she had “attempted all summer to learn”-she grew “overconfident” and “wanted to swim far out, where no woman had swum before” (47).

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Awakening In the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve experienced a sudden moment of realization, they become aware of themselves and their surroundings. This “awareness” led to their demise and created a door for sin. Likewise, the main character in the novel “The Awakening” experiences a sudden moment of awareness. Like many women of her time, she tried to follow the tracks laid out for her, trying to please the eyes of the people.

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In the first stanza, Harwood tells about a memory that was told to her by someone else. It was a memory of her father taking her to the beach. The uncertain tone in the first half of the first stanza and the definite tone in the second half of the stanza emphasises the importance of the emotions she felt at the time of the event rather what happened. The imagery of the beach is portrayed as fearful - ‘sea’s edge’ can represent the danger of life and mystery

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