Final/Most Important Passage in The Awakening

"Edna had attempted all summer to learn to swim. She had received instructions from both the men and women; in some instances from the children. Robert had pursued a system of lessons almost daily; and he was nearly at the point of discouragement in realizing the futility of his efforts. A certain ungovernable dread hung about her when in the water, unless there was a hand near by that might reach out and reassure her. But that night she was like the little tottering, stumbling, clutching child, who of a sudden realizes its powers, and walks for the first time alone, boldly and with over-confidence. She could have shouted for joy. She did shout for joy, as with a sweeping stroke or two she lifted her body to the surface of the water.A feeling of exultation overtook her, as if some power of significant import had been given her to control the working of her body and her soul. She grew daring and reckless, overestimating her strength. She wanted to swim far out, where no woman had swum before. Her unlooked-for achievement was the subject of wonder, applause, and admiration. Each one congratulated himself that his special teachings had accomplished this desired end."

"How easy it is!" she thought. "It is nothing," she said aloud; "why did I not discover before that it was nothing. Think of the time I have lost splashing about like a baby!" She would not join the groups in their sports and bouts, but intoxicated with her newly conquered power, she swam out alone.She turned her face seaward to gather in an impression of space and solitude, which the vast expanse of water, meeting and melting with the moonlit sky, conveyed to her excited fancy. As she swam she seemed to be reaching out for the unlimited in which to lose herself."

"Once she turned and looked toward the shore, toward the people she had left there. She had not gone any great distance that is, what would have been a great distance for an experienced swimmer. But to her unaccustomed vision the stretch of water behind her assumed the aspect of a barrier which her unaided strength would never be able to overcome."


This passage is the most important passage in The Awakening, due to the changes that Edna goes through after this one scene. This is the "awakening" in the story. Edna's life before this point was unfulfilled, lack-luster and lacking what she truly wants, once Edna dives into that water and realizes for the first time for herself that her she has been living in a life that isn't the life she wants to live--she changes her complete outlook. She then meets Robert and Arobin, who awaken who she wants to be more emotionally and sexually, and changes how she acts in general after that creating a completely different person that we initially were introduced to at the beginning of the story. This is the one critical point in the novel where we see her change. Her whole demeanor changes from this point on; she is more sexual, more blunt, more independent, and more accepting to the fact she doesn't want to be controlled by Leonce anymore. However; her life is already so controlled by Leonce that the only way to truly escape him is her death--which she commits at the end of the novel.

Short Fiction Assignment #5: "Where Are You Going? Where Have You Been?" by Joyce Carol Oates

Theme and Symbolism

In Where Are You Going? Where Have You Been? coming of age is a major factor in this short story. The coming of age plot ties into one of the themes in the short story--the search for independence. Connie, one of the main characters, has conflicts with her family. Her family wants to keep holding on to her while part of growing up means letting go and giving more freedom to some extent. Also, Connie tries extremely hard to make herself more attractive and prettier. Making yourself seem more pretty is a pressure put on woman during adolescence and growing up. Woman want to look good because they have the idea that the first thing Men judge you on is your appearance and how you look, not your personality or who you are. At the end of the short story, Connie's search for independence comes to a dark and dismal end. Connie's struggle for independence and failure for independence resonates with a lot of everyday struggles teenagers have with finding themselves and their own independence. There are many points in a teenagers life where they try so hard to become more independent and fail and in the end the people there to catch them and boost them up are the people they tried so hard to stray away from initially. One symbol in this short story is of the devil or a devil like presence being inside of Arnold Friend. Arnold Friend is a manipulative person like the devil, only trying to get what he wants and what he needs.

The Awakening Passage Analysis #6: Chapters XXXIII-XXXIX

Chapter XXXVI, pg. 145 and pg. 146

Pg. 145

"Robert," she said, "are you asleep?"

"No," he answered, looking up at her.

She leaned over and kissed him--a soft, cool, delicate kiss, whose voluptuous sting penetrated his whole being-then she moved away from him. He followed, and took her in his arms, just holding her close to him. She put her hand up to his face and pressed his cheek against her own. The action was full of love and tenderness. He sought her lips again. Then he drew her down upon the sofa beside him and held her hand in both of his.

"Now you know," he said, "now you know what I have been fighting against since last summer at Grand Isle; what drove me away and drove me back again."

"Why have you been fighting against it?" she asked. Her face glowed with soft lights.

"Why? Because you were not free; you were Leonce Pontellier's wife. I couldn't help loving you if you were ten times his wife; but so long as I went away from you and kept away I could help telling you so." She put her free hand up to his shoulder, and then against his cheek, rubbing it softly. He kissed her again. His face was warm and flushed.

Pg. 146

"You have been a very, very foolish boy, wasting your time dreaming of impossible things when you speak of Mr. Pontellier setting me free! I am no longer one of Mr. Pontellier's possessions to dispose of or not. I give myself where I choose.

This passage that I selected I think displays what kind of guy Robert is. He does feel the same way about Edna, when she kissed him he kissed her back, and told her that she was the reason that he had to stay away from Grand Isle. Robert is a very passive and gentle guy and this scene really displays that. He didn't put himself out there and kiss Edna first, he had many opportunities to do it when Edna and him reconnected after Robert's trip to Mexico but he never did. And later in the next chapter, Robert abandons Edna right after this scene takes place. He does truly love and care about Edna but he just can't picture them ever being together, he gets scared and leaves because he loves her and doesn't want to hurt her. From the beginning of the book to this scene, Edna has grown by leaps and bounds. At the beginning she was controlled by Leonce, everything she did was because Leonce requested or Leonce thought it was in Edna's place to do it. Now, after the awakening, Edna makes decisions on her own, for her own and no one else. It was her decision to kiss Robert and disclose how she feels about him, it was her decision to leave the Pontellier house and buy a house of her own, and it was ultimately her decision to give up swimming in the water which led to her death.

The Awakening Passage Analysis #5: Chapters XXVI-XXXII

Chapter XXVI, pg. 105-106

"Alcee Arobin wrote Edna an elaborate note of apology, palpitant with sincerity. It embarrassed her; for in a cooler, quieter moment it appeared to her, absurd that she should have taken his action so seriously, so dramatically. She felt sure that the significance of the whole occurrence had lain in her own self-consciousness. If she ignored his note it would give undue importance to a trivial affair. If she replied to it in a serious spirit it would still leave in his mind the impression that she had in a susceptible moment yielded to his influence. After all, it was no great matter to have one's hand kissed. She was provoked at his having written the apology. She answered in as light and bantering a spirit as she fancied it deserved, and said she would be glad to have him look in upon her at work whenever he felt the inclination and his business gave him the opportunity.

He responded at once by presenting himself at her home with all his disarming naivete. And then there was scarcely a day which followed that she did not see him or was not reminded of him. He was prolific in pretexts. His attitude became one of good-humored subservience and tacit adoration. He was ready at all times to submit to her moods, which were as often kind as they were cold. She grew accustomed to him. They became intimate and friendly by imperceptible degrees, and then by leaps. He sometimes talked in a way that astonished her at first and brought the crimson into her face; in a way that pleased her at last, appealing to the animalism that stirred impatiently within her.

There was nothing which so quieted the turmoil of Edna's senses as a visit to Mademoiselle Reisz. It was then, in the presence of that personality which was offensive to her, that the woman, by her divine art, seemed to reach Edna's spirit and set it free"

In this passage it becomes aware to us just how serious this friendship between Arobin and Edna is becoming. Arobin, as a character possess many traits that makes him the perfect medium between Leonce and Robert. He has the heart of Robert, we can see that by the sincere apology he writes to Edna. He pays attention to Edna, which is what every woman wants, Arobin is around Edna more than Leonce is and you can tell that just because of the chemistry that is growing between them. Arobin is more willing to "make things happen", Robert never was. Robert knows the traditional Creole values and despite feeling a certain way towards Edna, he knew that he could never cross that line. Arobin, however, wants to cross that line. In the passage it says "He was ready at all times to submit to her moods..." and "He sometimes talked in a way that pleased her at last, appealing to the animalism that stirred impatiently within her." Arobin never wants to love Edna, he is just there to ignite her sexual desires. 

Short Fiction Assignment: The Rockinghorse Winner by D.H. Lawrence

Theme Analysis and Connections in The Rockinghorse Winner by D.H. Lawrence

As a society, our dreams and aspirations are usually tied with making more money. Climbing up the social ladder means having more money to spend on frivolous items, having a large house, and brand new cars. This connection can be made as one of the themes in The Rockinghorse Winner, one of the strongest themes in the short story has to deal with the need and want for more money. As the mother and father think that money is the only thing to make you completely happy, and the only thing that is needed in life, the one thing that truly matters however is love and the love they have within their family. This idea of love is destroyed and broken down by the desire for money and social status. The young boy, Paul, only desires to be loved by his mother, the woman who gave birth to him, but he feels like he can not achieve that with money and social status overpowering him. Ultimately Paul finds himself yearning for his mother's love and begins gambling by predicting who can win in horse races to get money to his mother. This book also has a theme of neglect; the mother neglecting Paul, which in turn makes Paul want his mother's love even more. This one theme spirals into what is similar in Oedipus, the almost infatuation and love for the mother and wanting to get rid of the father figure. In The Rockinghorse Winner, the symbol of the rockinghorse suggests that it is tied to isolation and Paul's sexual desires. He isn't given the opportunity to explore love or lust outside of the home even though on the cusp of adolescence that is what he needs to experiment with the most.

The Awakening Passage Analysis #4: Chapters XX-XXV

Passage #4, Chapter XXI, pg. 86-87

"Edna did not know when the Impromptu began or ended. She sat in the sofa corner reading Robert's letter by the fading light. Mademoiselle had glided from the Chopin into the quivering love notes of Isolde's song, and back again to the Impromptu with its soulful and poignant longing.

(The tone of this part and the description really lays the scene about how sad Edna is about Robert being gone, "fading light"; something slowly burning out but you still need it desperately.)

The shadows deepened in the little room. The music grew strange and fantastic--turbulent, insistent, plaintive and soft with entreaty. The shadows grew deeper. The music filled the room. It floated out upon the night, over the housetops, the crescent of the river, losing itself in the silence of the upper air.

(Darkness is surrounding Edna, there is no light without Robert, who was the only person that truly understood her.)

Edna was sobbing, just as she had wept one midnight at Grand Isle when strange, new voices awoke in her. She arose in some agitation to take her departure. "May I come again, Mademoiselle?" she asked at the threshold.

(Trapped in this emotional enclosure that she can't escape from, she is depressed.)

"Come whenever you feel like it. Be careful; the stairs and landings are dark; don't stumble."

Mademoiselle reentered and lit a candle. Robert's letter was on the floor. She stooped and picked it up. It was crumpled and damp with tears. Mademoiselle smoothed the letter out, restored it to the envelope, and replaced it in the table drawer."

This passage is really emotional. Part of the reason that this passage is so emotional is how Kate Chopin uses symbols and exceptional description. "She sat in the sofa corner reading Robert's letter by the fading light"; this is a great example of a symbol Chopin uses. We take for granted light and the pleasure of having light, and when it is fading we yearn and desperately try to save the light that was initially burning with force. This is a great symbol to express what Edna is going through; she deeply misses Robert, he hasn't made any effort to contact her or write to her, and she is slowly beginning to think that he never will. Their mutual love and companionship with each other is the fading light; it began so strong and now through less and less communication it is fading and becoming dimmer. Also, the use of description in this passage is well-thought out; Chopin uses "soulful and poignant longing" and "shadows deepened" "crumpled", all of these descriptive words used are melancholy and sad or dark. The melancholy, sadness, and darkness can be tied to what Edna's demeanor is becoming. She is dwelling on Robert and is constantly remaining in the past, and is remaining in her own world of darkness and depression. So much so that other people are becoming concerned and worried for her mental health. 

The Awakening Passage Analysis #3: Chapters XIV-XIX

Passage #3: Chapter XVIII, pg. 72

"Edna looked straight before her with a self-absorbed expression upon her face. She felt no interest in anything about her. The street, the children, the fruit vender, the flowers growing there under her eyes, were all part and parcel of an alien world which had suddenly become antagonistic."

(Transition within Edna is occurring, her light and excitement (Robert) is gone and her world has become dull and lifeless)

(Lively things are occuring all around her,yet on the inside and outside she is slowly losing the energy and the need to keep going on)

(Life is plain different for her, she wants Robert there, he was the only one who truly understood and took time to listen to her, and with him gone there is a void that will be difficult to fulfill.)


This passage is a great example of what change Edna is going through. When Robert initially comes, we see this emergence of independence and confidence, an awakening. She begins to paint more, do things for herself rather than what Leonce or anyone else expects her to do. Robert brings out the best in Edna, they can carry on conversations easily and share a lot of things in common with one another. However; when Edna finds out that Robert is leaving possibly forever to Mexico, we see a change. Like the passage states "Edna looked straight before her with a self-absorbed expression...", she is focusing on the grief and the heartache that she is experiencing because the light and the liveliness in her life has gone away. She got so attached and connected to Robert that when he left it created this emptiness in her soul, she has no interests in anything anymore, she has no motivation, she is not herself, she is depressed.