The Awakening was a terribly sad story that tackles the issue of mental illness and a woman’s independence. Edna, the main character, ironically enough, kills herself as soon as she is awakened and becoming independent. Throughout the book, Edna is trapped in a cage that is her life due to not really feeling anything and complying to her husband who she does not love. Not until she feels everything, due to being awakened through her affair with Robert, does she realize that she was in a cage like the parrot in the first line of the book. She feels “An indescribable oppression..” (11) and sadly enough, one of the only things that brings her joy besides Robert is the independence of swimming on her own for the first time and defying her husband, is the very thing that kills her.
One of the more humorous things I found while reading The Awakening was the relationship between Edna and her husband Mr. Pontellier. Mr. Pontellier’s mindset for his wife is quite demeaning, despite her being “..the sole object of his existence”. However, he does not act nor speak like it. He speaks of his live for his children, but then thinks it is his wife’s job to look after them when he believes one of their sons is sick. He orders her around and I am able to relate to Edna’s oppression because being ordered around like that would drive me insane too. While I do not necessarily agree and support Edna’s mindset for her children- she in a way views having children a bad thing and one of the things that also takes away her independence- once again, the matter of Edna feeling trapped like one of the several birds throughout the book is shown. Edna fights for her independence until her last breath I believe and in the end I believe was just tired. She was tired of being oppressed by her husband, by her children, and by society. The loss of Robert pushes her to finally giving up the very independence she fought so hard for. In a way, however, I think her killing herself can be argued is a way of her still owning her independence, though many might disagree. One of the most powerful lines for me in the book was on the last page. “Goodbye- because I love you.” This line was extremely sad, but this final wording in a way made me finally understand the entire book. I finally was able to understand the exhaustion Edna felt fighting the oppression she had experienced throughout the entire book, as well as her mental illness.